


The Unshared Secret

by mean_whale



Series: Secrets [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Anxiety, Blow Jobs, Boys Kissing, Coming In Pants, Confessions, Cuddling & Snuggling, Drinking, Dubiously Consensual Blow Jobs, Fights, First Kiss, First Time Topping, Holding Hands, Knotting, M/M, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Men Crying, Multiple Orgasms, Omega Verse, Omega/Omega, Overstimulation, Panic Attacks, Past Violence, Scent Marking, Scenting, Secret Crush, Secret Identity, Suicide mention, Threesome - M/M/M, Unrequited Crush, Voyeurism, kenhina - Freeform, rape discussion, well-fucked
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-03 16:10:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14572677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mean_whale/pseuds/mean_whale
Summary: Bokuto, who is roommates with Kuroo, has been living as an alpha ever since he first presented as an omega. The lie has become easy, until one day his suppressants stop working and he goes into heat.Kuroo, who has had feelings for Akaashi for the longest time, walks in on Bokuto in the middle of heat. How will he react to finding out his best friend's secret?Akaashi, who always liked Kuroo, discovers that the alpha's scent changed for the better. Will he find out what caused it?





	1. Bokuto

Bokuto had been feeling off all day, and his weird feeling kept intensifying throughout the afternoon. When he could finally return to his room, he was relieved; even more so when he confirmed that Kuroo wasn’t there. He had an idea about what might be going on, and he definitely didn’t need Kuroo’s thick alpha smell messing up with his mind – not to mention the fact that Kuroo would immediately guess what he had been hiding for years. He opened the window to air out Kuroo’s lingering scent, took in a breath of fresh air, and turned back to the room.

With a heavy heart Bokuto checked his calendar, already certain it would only confirm his suspicions, and he was right: he had been on his suppressants too long without a break, and nature was now taking over.

“Fuck,” he said out loud.

He didn’t know what to do. However, he knew exactly what he should have done before. For starters, he should have not gone more than the recommended six months without a heat, but even then, he should have taken better care of tracking his cycles. He definitely should have remembered the date when he needed to go off suppressants to prevent this from happening, but he had forgotten. It had become so easy to live his life as an alpha that he had simply pushed reality out of his mind.

The pheromone patches on his neck were suddenly itching, so he tore them off. Immediately the room was filled with his needy omega scent, calling for alphas to come and take him. He stumbled to the window and slammed it shut. He couldn’t have people smelling his scent in the alpha dormitory.

With shaky legs Bokuto returned to his bed. He swallowed thickly. The pheromone patches had apparently played a role in keeping his heat in check, as he was quickly feeling the need taking over his body. He wondered if he could try to fix the situation with new patches, but his scent glands felt irritated, and even the idea of blocking them with something filled him with discomfort.

It was beginning to seem that he could do nothing to stop his heat.

The room felt suffocatingly hot, and Bokuto stripped out of his shirts, wiping his forehead on the hem of the t-shirt before tossing it to the floor as well. His nipples were erect and the tiniest brush against one confirmed that they were extremely sensitive too. He whined, hearing how pitiable he sounded, and all the while his scent glands were practically shooting out omega pheromones that were begging an alpha to take him and ram their big cock in his dripping hole.

That made him realise how wet he was, and he quickly discarded his jeans to avoid getting them dirty. There was already a small wet patch on the denim, and it made him want to cry. How was he going to wash them without someone catching a whiff of the undeniable scent of an omega? He palmed his cock that had been hard for a while already, the contact bringing him some relief. His entire body was throbbing with need, and there was nothing he could do but try to relief himself before Kuroo returned.

Bokuto lay down on the bed, then pulled the blanket over himself to hopefully stifle his scent enough. The rational part of him knew that there was no way he could hide the scent evidence from Kuroo, that he would probably have to tell his best friend the truth and move out of the room, maybe even remove himself from Kuroo's life, but the animal part of him was gaining control so quick that he soon found himself only worrying about how quickly he could shake off his underwear so he could shove fingers up his ass.

With his briefs around his ankles Bokuto didn't wait to push two fingers inside. He was soaking wet, his entrance soft and pliable. It was good but not enough, so he immediately added a third one, feeling a bit of stretch at last. His right hand was busy jerking his cock with more pressure on each stroke. It felt nice, but was still not enough. He had no idea what else he could do and it frustrated him to no end. His body was burning with need but he couldn't help himself.

For the first time ever, he hoped that he lived as an omega in the omega dorms. He had heard stories about how other omegas were always ready to help those in heat and some of them had toys that could knot them. What he would give for even the simplest toy that he could shove inside to feel like he was being filled properly!

His feverish thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. His hand froze on his cock and he wished that in some miraculous way he was at home and not in the room he shared with Kuroo, that it was one of his parents accidentally walking in on him rather than his best friend who had always thought that he was an alpha.

"What the hell?" were Kuroo's first words, and the door was quickly slammed shut.

Bokuto bit his lip and hoped that Kuroo had left, even though he could hear the alpha in the room.

"Did you bring an omega in our room?" Kuroo asked, voice hard to read.

Bokuto was staring at the blanket that was the flimsiest excuse of a shield between his secret and the truth. He heard Kuroo move around and grumble, and now the scent was seeping in. There was an alpha in the same room. An alpha was right there, right behind the blanket, so close that he would only have to reach out and he could get what he needed. An alpha. He needed the alpha's big cock inside him, he needed it.

"What are you doing?" Kuroo asked, now clearly annoyed.

The tone of the alpha's voice broke through Bokuto's heated dreams, and for a moment longer he could think clearly. He was in the same room with an alpha. He was alone with an alpha. It was never the most desirable situation for an omega, even when not in heat, and he was very much in heat. He was in heat and there was an alpha right there, about to expose his secret. Kuroo might not be able to stop himself if he suddenly came face to face with an omega in heat, no warnings beforehand. Bokuto would understand if that happened. He had heard the numerous horror stories of what happened to omegas in heat when they were confronted by an alpha, and even though he and Kuroo were friends, it would be only natural for the alpha’s rationale to shut down.

Kuroo stepped closer to Bokuto’s hideout. The scent of an approaching alpha made Bokuto's heart hammer in interest, cock jolt with anticipation, but the fear of his secret being revealed kept him sane. Kuroo would see him for who he was. He wasn't a strong alpha after all; he was a pathetic omega succumbed to his own body. But even worse, he was a liar. Kuroo might never want to talk to him again, might turn away in disgust, they might never see each other again.

The idea of losing Kuroo's friendship was horrifying, and Bokuto was trying his hardest to think of anything to distract the alpha with. He could imagine how Kuroo's hand was reaching for the blanket, ready to pull it aside. Kuroo would see him in this humiliating position, naked and fingers up his ass.

Bokuto was surprised to find that the idea wasn't completely horrible. There was a small part of him intrigued by the idea of Kuroo watching him touch himself, Kuroo touching his ass and playing with the slick before pushing inside him. And he knew that not all of this desire was caused by the heat.

This discovery was so new that he didn't know how to take it. He had occasionally thought about kissing Kuroo when they were sitting side by side and leaning on each other, but had always dismissed it simply because he was playing the role of an alpha. Ever since his initial crush on the alpha back in high school, he had made sure to not give his fantasies wings, because he knew it was never going to happen.

He saw the blanket crumble when Kuroo grabbed a hold of it and started pulling it away. Bokuto let out a whine, mouth open but words getting tangled together. The cool air hitting his face made him realise how hot he was. He closed his eyes, as if that would stop Kuroo from seeing him.

"Bokuto?" Kuroo asked, and his voice was suddenly weak.

"Please, don't," Bokuto managed to say.

After a moment's hesitation Kuroo threw back the blanket, revealing Bokuto's heated body. Slowly Bokuto opened his eyes. Nothing was shielding him from the alpha's scent, and he came a bit, come pearling on the tip of his aching cock. Kuroo was staring at his hands, how one of them disappeared between his ass cheeks. He lowered his gaze in case Kuroo would turn to look at his face. He could never meet the alpha's eyes again.

Right before him Bokuto saw Kuroo's crotch and how the alpha’s sweatpants were tented. His hole twitched at the sight of the big hard cock right before him, and he knew that he had to get it, he wouldn't live if he didn't get it in him right now.

Kuroo was still frozen in place when Bokuto pulled his fingers out of himself with a squelch. Before the alpha could react, Bokuto had already pulled his pants down and exposed the beautiful, thick cock standing upright. Kuroo let out a sound, the beginning of a sentence, but Bokuto wrapped his lips around the swollen tip of the alpha's cock without a care. He sighed mentally, the relief of finally touching an alpha washing over him, and he sucked hard, making Kuroo's hips jerk. He used his tongue to tease the tip, tasting the alpha's bitter pre-come with joy as if it was the sweetest nectar.

Bokuto had no idea how long it took before Kuroo let out a different kind of grunt and forcefully pulled his head away from the dripping cock. He tried to get back to it, but the alpha’s fist had a strong hold of his hair, forcing him to back off. He looked up, begging to touch again, admiring how flushed the alpha's face was.

"You can't just suddenly suck me off," Kuroo said through his teeth.

Bokuto was taken aback by this, and regained some control. He opened his mouth to apologise, but Kuroo must have thought he was going for the cock again, and pulled on his hair harder. Bokuto was mortified to find that this show of nearly violent dominance was turning him on, catering straight to his heat muddled brain.

"Please," he managed to cough out. "You have to help me."

His voice was pathetic, and he hoped that Kuroo would pity him enough to grant him this last wish as his best friend. He wanted to talk to the alpha, wanted to explain, but he felt how he was losing his rationality again, his animal side now forcing its head up higher than ever before because he had been suppressing it for two whole years.

"What the fuck, Bokuto?" Kuroo said, disbelief apparent in his voice.

He would have to try to convince Kuroo fast or he would lose all ability to communicate in ways other than presenting his body, and that would evidently go nowhere. His body shivered, cock brushing against his lower stomach with each breath he took.

"Kuroo," he said urgently. "I will explain, but I can't now. Please, help me."

Kuroo shook his head, brows deeply furrowed. His lower lip was pouting the tiniest bit, and Bokuto wanted to kiss it, wanted to lick it and taste the alpha in Kuroo. He needed to be fucked right now or he would lose his mind.

"No way!" Kuroo said. "We're talking right now."

Bokuto felt his heart break. A part of him had fantasised about Kuroo taking just one look at him before sinking balls deep in his needy hole, but the real Kuroo acted exactly like himself. Bokuto's heart was beating faster, the itch under his skin intensifying each second. He wanted to honour Kuroo's wishes, but the only thing he could do was sit on his hands to stop himself from touching his aching cock in front of the other man.

"We can't talk now," he said, words slurring together.

"Why not?" Kuroo asked with a scoff.

The itch was so bad he couldn't ignore it any longer. The need to get any stimulation at all was so strong, it brought tears to his eyes. He resolved to say one more thing, then he would touch himself to get the edge off the pain.

"Because I'm in heat, you moron!" he managed, but his voice wasn't as strong as he had wanted, words barely understandable.

Kuroo let go of his hair, and he slumped back, lying on his side on the bed. A tear escaped his eye, and he lifted a hand to his cock, the first brush against the hot length making him come, body arching powerfully as he released all over his stomach. His vision was blurred by tears of pain and relief when he took a better hold of his cock and started stroking it again.

"Please," he whined towards the dark blob in his vision that was Kuroo. "Please."

His ass was twitching with the need to be filled, but he knew that his fingers would never be enough. He would have to suffer through insufficient girth filling him just because he was a fool.

"Kuroo," he panted. "It hurts."

He closed his eyes when the blob didn't move. He couldn't watch Kuroo stand before him, not making a move to help. The alpha’s scent was strongly present, and Bokuto hoped that it would somehow be enough to sate his greedy body. His hand was working his cock as fast as he could, and he was very close to coming a second time, his body so relieved to finally be allowed to work the way it was designed. He heard himself sob with pleasure as if he was somewhere far away from the source of the sound, and he came with an open cry, body curling as his come made his hold on his cock slippery. He had turned away from Kuroo, back curled to hide his secret from his alpha friend but to also discreetly allow the alpha access to his hole. He didn’t know what Kuroo was thinking, if the alpha would simply stand there and watch or finally get enough and leave, but he wished that he could stop smelling the alpha pheromones that made his heart beat differently.

He heard movement but couldn’t process it, so he jumped when he felt a hand on his lower back. The hand guided him to turn all the way onto his stomach, and he let go of his cock to obey, to make room for the alpha whose scent was all around him. There were two hands on his hips, and he lifted his lower body up to his shaky knees, ass high in the air and his entrance exposed to the alpha whose scent had suddenly spiked. His ears were humming with blood flow, thoughts preoccupied with need. The alpha was touching his ass, caressing the cheeks and pulling them apart to properly expose his pucker that was twitching with need, slick dripping down his thighs as he sobbed against a pillow.

“Alpha,” he slurred, arched his back to be more appealing. “I need…”

He tried lifting his upper body, but his arms were too weak. A hand pressed over his shoulder blades, and it was a command. His alpha was in control and he would do anything to please him, anything for his alpha. He would present his body in whatever way his alpha found most desirable.

Both hands were holding his hips again, and he felt something hard poke against his thigh. It took him a while to understand that it was the alpha’s cock, it was his Alpha’s cock and it was now pressed against his quivering entrance slippery with slick and pre-come. He moaned, the knowledge of what was to come already enough to make his cock jump. He felt the swollen tip of the Alpha’s cock press against his hole and whimpered. It was so close, he was so close to having all his needs fulfilled and he couldn't stop sobbing.

"Alpha," he mumbled, over and over again.

The pressure against his pucker increased, and suddenly his hole was being filled by an alpha cock, thick and hot. Bokuto arched his back and cried out, fingers tearing into the pillow. He tried pushing back, but Alpha was holding his hips in a vice grip, unyielding as the cock slowly pushed deeper. Bokuto had never felt such relief. Back when he had still lived at home, he had used a toy to help him through his heats, but back then his parents had also made sure that he went off suppressants every six months, and the heat had never been too intense. This heat must have been an accumulation of all the heats he had foregone with suppressants mixed with living in an all-alpha dormitory with an alpha right in the same room.

Bokuto mewled when Alpha started rocking his hips and softly fucking him. Feeling a real alpha cock inside was unimaginably good, it felt like for the first time he had learned to scratch an itch. Alpha grunted and sped up, his scent overpowering Bokuto's own, cocooning him into a warm sense of belonging. He belonged to his alpha completely. He breathed in the scent that was so familiar yet different. It was Kuroo layered with an alpha's strength. This was the first time he had ever smelled an alpha as an omega, and it was clouding his senses, he was in a pool of Alpha but it wasn't frightening because with Alpha's power came the promise of being protected.

He could feel his ass jiggling with the power of Alpha's thrusts, skin slapping against skin mixed with the squelches of a cock stirring the slick he was still producing generously. The way Alpha's cock was pulling on his rim was heavenly. For a long time, he had never really thought about sex, the suppressants having kept his libido low, but when he had still thought about it and fantasised about heated encounters with an alpha, he had never realised it could be this rough, this level of being taken over by animal instincts a complete surprise.

His Alpha let go of his hips, and he immediately collapsed, legs shaking with effort. He heard an impatient grunt and was turned around to lie on his back. Tears of need and overwhelming pleasure were blurring his vision, and he blinked slowly when his legs were spread open, hips lifted with strong hands, and Alpha was pushing back inside. He moaned and arched his back. He wanted to touch his neglected cock but couldn't muster the strength to move his arms. He was so close, but needed something more, the smallest bit more to find release.

He opened his eyes, uncertain of when he had closed them. The alpha was above him, his Alpha... Kuroo. A drop of sweat was hanging from Kuroo’s brow, his hair hanging around his face as he fucked into Bokuto. Kuroo’s face was flushed and eyes focused, the focus something that Bokuto had only seen when Kuroo was working very hard on something. He remembered having first seen Kuroo that focused during a volleyball tournament, he remembered how his heart had skipped a beat. He remembered how after that he had looked at Kuroo differently, had gone through a phase of thinking about the alpha, how his dark hair was pulling up and down simultaneously, how his smile was wicked when he had something good in mind, the way he laughed loudly and unapologetically. He had gone into heat during that time, and had thought about Kuroo’s cock pushing past his tight entrance as he used his toy to get through the worst edge.

He didn’t know why he had forgotten those feelings, how it had seemed so easy. Throughout high school he had never stopped looking at Kuroo, although he had also restrained his thoughts, concluding that a relationship would be impossible. If he wanted to play volleyball with the best, if he wanted to keep improving and one day making it to the top three of the country, he would have to be an alpha. He couldn’t have anyone know his true nature, so a relationship with an alpha was completely off limits. He had managed to convince himself that his feelings were those of friendship, that there would be no problem living with Kuroo because they were friends and nothing more, and for two years it had worked just like that. He had forgotten the way Kuroo’s private smiles would make his heart stutter and thoughts halt, falling into a routine of friendship. Could the suppressants have caused that? Could they eliminate feelings like that? He didn’t know what it meant to fall in love, hadn’t thought it necessary to think about that when he had so much work to do.

And now he was staring up at Kuroo’s small frown, how the dark eyes turned to look at him, and he felt the forgotten twitch in his chest, a twist and a pull, something that was unique to being alone with Kuroo.

He could see how Kuroo’s hips worked to fuck into him, how the alpha’s ass was muscular, thighs strong, biceps strained as the alpha hovered over him, and he knew that he could never go back to pretending that he didn’t feel these intense things for his best friend. He wished that he could move his limbs and wrap them around Kuroo, this Kuroo that saw him for who he was, who hadn’t abandoned him even though he had lied. He wished that he could take everything he could now that they were finally together.

Bokuto closed his eyes when he came, his tightened hole feeling how Kuroo’s knot was swelling. He whined and whimpered, suddenly scared, vulnerable with an alpha over him, but before he could open his eyes he felt a hand take a hold of his hand. He turned his head, opened his eyes to look at the way Kuroo’s fingers fit between his own, his wide hand being held by Kuroo’s graceful hand. Warmth filled him, his fears were wiped away by this simple gesture. He listened to Kuroo groan but was too tired to turn his head. The alpha thrust hard, knot catching onto Bokuto’s entrance on its last way in, and when Kuroo came, his cock spilling semen deep inside Bokuto, the alpha took a hold of his cock and stroked it feverishly. Bokuto came with a tired cry, still being filled by the alpha’s seed, the knot spreading him wide, and it all filled him with satisfaction unlike anything else ever had.

Slowly and carefully Kuroo lowered himself over Bokuto, then rolled them both to their sides. He let go of Bokuto’s hand, and Bokuto couldn’t help whimpering. However, he was still connected to Kuroo by the alpha’s knot, he was still important, and he slumped towards the alpha and pressed a sloppy kiss somewhere to the general direction of Kuroo’s mouth.

It was quiet apart from their hurried breathing. Bokuto’s eyes were half closed. He slowly became aware of the way his arm was hanging over Kuroo’s torso, but the alpha wasn’t holding him. Their legs were tangled together, but Kuroo’s upper body seemed to be backing off.

“Bokuto,” Kuroo said, voice cracking. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

 _I know_ , Bokuto wanted to say, but instead burst to silent tears, too tired to make a sound. He ended up gasping for breath, feeling completely powerless to do anything about anything. He jerked when Kuroo placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t suffocate,” the alpha said kindly.

It was too kind. It was the calm before a storm, and Bokuto cried harder at that, thinking about how good their life together had been up until now. He had been stupid, hadn’t taken care of himself, and his selfish actions had led up to this.

“Hey,” Kuroo said gently and pulled Bokuto into a warm hug. “You need to calm down.”

Bokuto pressed his snotty face against Kuroo’s shoulder. He could feel the alpha’s knot inside him, and suddenly it didn’t feel reassuring, it felt too big, wrong, it felt like a huge mistake.

“I’m sorry,” he managed to blubber out, although he couldn’t be sure if Kuroo understood his words.

"It's okay," Kuroo said. "You don't have to explain now."

There was something stiff about him, but Bokuto was too preoccupied with everything going on with himself to even begin to guess what it could be.

"How long do your heats usually take?" Kuroo asked.

Bokuto sniffled.

"I don't know," he managed.

His eyes were still closed.

"How wouldn't you know?" Kuroo asked sounding incredulous.

With a wavering voice Bokuto tried to explain how he hadn't taken the required breaks with his suppressants, but he wasn't confident in how well he was getting his point across. Kuroo's hold on his shoulder tightened, but the alpha pulled away to look at him.

"Are you saying that you've been on suppressants non-stop for over two years?" the alpha asked, voice suddenly in the verge of panic.

Bokuto responded with a tiny nod.

"What... Bokuto!" Kuroo stumbled through his words. "Why haven't you been taking care of yourself? Why would you do that?"

Bokuto sniffled but his tears had dried. He peeked at Kuroo from behind his lashes. They were wet and heavy. The worry on Kuroo's face made his heart clench with guilt. He hadn't put much thought into his decision of foregoing heats – in fact, you could say he hadn't decided it at all, it had been a completely organic chain of events.

“I can’t believe you’d be that irresponsible,” Kuroo said and pat Bokuto’s back. “Well, actually, I can.”

Kuroo snickered, but Bokuto couldn’t even smile. Now that his heat was more in control, he could start thinking again, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. He wondered if this heat would be unusually long. At least it had been unusually intense. Would his suppressants work anymore? Was it even safe to use them again? He would have to come clean about his deception and he would be kicked out of the university, he would lose his reputation as a volleyball player, and he would have to live in shame for the rest of his life. Not to mention, he would now lose Kuroo’s friendship because he had been too cowardly to tell the alpha about his secret.

Kuroo grunted quietly, which drew Bokuto’s attention back to present. He looked at the alpha, who was frowning, and he wanted to ask what was wrong, but didn’t think he could trust his voice yet. He wished that Kuroo would pull him into an embrace and tell him that everything was fine, that everything would be fine and nothing between them would change. Instead, Kuroo let go of his shoulder.

Besides, things had already changed between them. They were no longer two alpha buddies sharing a room. They were an alpha and omega couple, they had just had sex, and Kuroo had knotted him.

Kuroo had knotted him?

Bokuto’s eyes widened and he looked at Kuroo, but the alpha wasn’t meeting his eyes. Kuroo was looking down between their bodies, and Bokuto wondered if the alpha was desperate to get his cock out of him. He bit his lip. He didn’t know how final a knotting was, how much it bound a couple together. He had never been very interested, but from what he had gathered, it varied a lot. Some couples said it didn’t feel any different, some said they became almost too dependent on each other’s company. What if he and Kuroo were now bonded for life? Had Kuroo intended for that to happen or had it been an accident? He didn’t dare ask, because he feared that the answer would be the less pleasant option.

As much as Bokuto wanted to believe that somehow Kuroo had figured out the way he had felt about the alpha all along, even though his feelings had been hidden from himself too, he knew that wasn’t the case. He wanted to imagine that Kuroo would confess that it was a relief to find out that Bokuto was an omega, because this way they could pursue a relationship that might otherwise be impossible. He wanted to close his eyes and remain in a beautiful dream, where Kuroo had always looked at him the same way he had looked at the alpha back when they had first met, back when he had fallen.

“How do you feel?” Kuroo asked, and his voice sounded too distant.

“Fine,” Bokuto replied quietly.

“Do you think you’re fine to talk now?” Kuroo asked. “Or do you need more?”

Bokuto’s stomach flipped at the idea that Kuroo was actually offering to do more sexual things with him. Right now, he felt completely calm, but for a brief moment he thought about lying and saying that he needed to be held like they were lovers.

“I’m fine,” he said quietly.

His voice was rough with emotion, and he knew that he wouldn’t get through this without crying again. Fine. He had never cried in front of anyone after presenting as an omega and deciding to hide his nature. He had now cried in front of Kuroo so much that the alpha had seen just how weak he was. It was fine. What would be better than ruin his strong image in the eyes of the one man he loved so deeply it pained his heart?

“You’re omega,” Kuroo stated.

“Yes,” Bokuto replied, still quiet, eyes downcast.

He might never be able to meet Kuroo’s eyes again.

“How?” Kuroo asked. “Why have you been… Why didn’t you tell me?”

Bokuto closed his eyes properly for a moment to breathe. He already had a lump in his throat, but he wanted to keep at least a semblance of control, show to Kuroo that he was still the same he had always been.

“I…” he started to say, voice cracking dangerously, and he cleared his throat before trying again. “It was easy.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Kuroo asked immediately.

Bokuto wished that Kuroo wasn’t so clear-headed right now.

“I trust you,” he whispered, eyes focused on Kuroo’s chest.

Kuroo was breathing rather calmly, and Bokuto didn’t understand how it was possible. Why was Kuroo so calm and he was a storm? Kuroo’s dark nipples were erect, and suddenly Bokuto wanted to kiss them.

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Kuroo asked. “Do you realise how dangerous it is for you to live here?”

Bokuto nodded.

“Why… I would have never thought you could put yourself at such risk,” Kuroo said. “You’re good at making the right decisions, so how come some of these massive decisions have been so poor?”

Bokuto shrugged. He felt tears behind his eyes and tried to blink them away.

“There has to be a reason,” Kuroo continued. “You didn’t just one day wake up and think ‘gee, wouldn’t it be swell to pretend to be an alpha’. You did it for some reason. Why?”

“Volleyball,” Bokuto managed to get out before a sob threatened to escape.

Kuroo sighed.

“There are omega teams,” he pointed out.

“Nobody takes them seriously,” Bokuto said.

He raised his head just a bit to face Kuroo. The alpha’s eyes were dark, a soft frown skewing his usual care-free image.

“Honestly, I never thought about it,” Kuroo said.

“That’s because you never had to fear…” Bokuto had to take a break to breathe. “You’re alpha.”

Kuroo bit his lip in thought. Bokuto wanted to tell him to stop, wanted to lean in and lick over the worried lip, taste it and kiss Kuroo until the knot inside him released them.

“I guess I can understand,” Kuroo finally said. “But what made you think it’s a good idea to live in an all-alpha dormitory? What did your parents say to that?”

Bokuto’s face was suddenly in flames. He turned his eyes away from Kuroo’s face, watched the pillow very closely.

“They don’t know,” he confessed. “They think I live off campus.”

“What?” Kuroo exclaimed and groaned. “Is anything you say true? Have you just been lying to everyone?”

It was the question that hit right at home, and hot tears spilled onto Bokuto’s cheekbones, gravity pulling them over the bridge of his nose and down his temple onto the pillow.

“I only lied about being alpha,” he whimpered.

He wished that Kuroo would wipe his tears away, kiss the tip of his nose and tell him it was going to be fine.

“What were you thinking, Bokuto?” Kuroo asked. “At least you should have told me so I could have… I don’t know what I could have done. I could have convinced you that it’s stupid to live in an alpha dormitory with an alpha as your roommate.”

“It was fine because everyone thinks I’m alpha too,” Bokuto protested, but couldn’t make his voice assertive enough.

He sounded like a whiny baby.

“For fuck’s sake, Bokuto!” Kuroo said. “You’re not that stupid! Think about what would have happened to you if you went to heat outside our room! How many alphas would it have taken before someone gained enough sense to call for help? How good do you think you’d be feeling after ten different cocks in you?”

Bokuto squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to cover his ears to stop hearing Kuroo’s cruel words, he didn’t want to think about how badly things could have turned out had he not made it back to his room in time. He did not want to have to go out and meet all the alphas who could have raped him when he was too weak to resist.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed.

“Well you better be,” Kuroo said, voice gone icy. “Now we’re bonded. Good job! Excellent! It’s not like I was already working on seducing someone.”

Bokuto opened his eyes as quickly as was humanely possible.

“What?” he nearly screamed, then cleared his throat to gain just a bit more time to get over the shock. “You’re courting someone?”

“Not yet,” Kuroo said, a deep frown on his face. “I was still testing the waters, but I was thinking of making it more official soon. Now I can’t.”

“You can,” Bokuto said.

“Are you pretending or are you an actual idiot?” Kuroo asked. “He’s going to smell it on me. He’s going to know I’m bonded.”

“If you explain to him…”

“Explain what exactly?” Kuroo interrupted. “’Oh, don’t worry about the scent of another omega on me. My best friend just totally screwed me over and I accidentally knotted him while he was in heat. It doesn’t mean anything, I swear!’ You know that’s not how it works.”

Bokuto couldn’t say anything. He wanted to point out that knotting wasn’t the strongest bond there is and without scenting it hardly changed their individual scents. He didn’t want to talk, because he didn’t want to know anything else about Kuroo’s crush. He realised that up until this point he had been hopeful that maybe Kuroo would develop feelings for him.

“I don’t know what you expected,” Kuroo continued. “I’ve never been with an omega in heat. How could I control myself enough to pull out in time?”

Bokuto peeked at Kuroo, who had closed his eyes, the frown ever-present on his face.

“I didn’t know,” Bokuto whispered.

“Of course you didn’t,” Kuroo said. “You’ve never expressed any interested in relationships, so I never told you.”

“It’s the suppressants,” Bokuto tried to explain.

Kuroo sighed. He was picking the fabric of the pillowcase, eyes focused on his own fingers.

“You’re going to continue pretending to be alpha, right?” Kuroo asked.

Bokuto nodded, knowing that Kuroo would catch that.

“I don’t think I can live with you anymore,” Kuroo said.

Bokuto had expected that, but it still hurt. He closed his eyes and turned his head to hide his face into the pillow.

“I don’t even know what to think about you right now,” Kuroo said.

Bokuto didn’t acknowledge it in any way. He couldn’t. He wanted to disappear, dissolve into the bed and be gone forever. He had been so, so stupid.

“Who is it that you like?” he found himself mumbling against the pillow.

It was quiet for so long that he thought Kuroo hadn’t heard him.

“It’s Akaashi,” Kuroo said then.

“Oh,” Bokuto said into the pillow.

Of course.

He noted that Kuroo’s knot had gotten quite a bit smaller. The alpha didn’t move.

“It’s been Akaashi for a long time,” Kuroo added.

Bokuto didn’t want to hear it, but he had asked the question. A part of him wanted all the details just to torture himself. He really didn’t want to know, though.

“I was always so pleased that high school sports aren’t segregated,” Kuroo said almost dreamily. “I wouldn’t have met him otherwise.”

Amazing. Kuroo had been in love with Akaashi for only one year less than Bokuto had been in love with Kuroo. It was just brilliant. Long-term feelings wouldn’t suddenly disappear.

“I guess I should be thankful that you helped us get to know each other better,” Kuroo mused.

Bokuto couldn’t take it anymore. He sat up, rolling Kuroo onto his back. Kuroo looked at him, his questioning look so adorable Bokuto wanted to pinch his cheeks and kiss him silly. Instead he forced Kuroo’s knot out of himself, even though it was still clearly too big to comfortably come out. Kuroo made a questioning sound, but didn’t have time to say anything before they were apart.

“You’re free now,” Bokuto said.

“What about the second wave of heat?” Kuroo asked, sitting up.

“It’s not coming,” Bokuto said.

He was staring at the pillow. The pillow cover was in tatters from the strength of his pleasure. It should have been the best memory of his life, but it had quickly turned into something bitter that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He got up, rummaged through the drawer where he kept his pheromone patches, and stuck two over his scent glands. His omega scent calmed immediately, although the smell of sex lingered.

“How did I never notice your pheromone patches?” Kuroo asked.

Bokuto knew it was a rhetorical question, but couldn’t help making himself more bitter.

“Maybe you were too busy ogling Akaashi,” he snapped.

Kuroo let out a sound that didn’t really mean anything. Bokuto turned to face him.

“Besides, they’re meant to be unseen,” he said to soften his words.

Kuroo was still sitting on the bed. His naked chest was beautiful, begging to be touched, and Bokuto wanted to drag his hand down the expanse of it, feel each crease, play with the nipples, kiss his way down to the alpha’s hips. He turned his eyes back to Kuroo’s face.

“I’m sorry to say,” he said, surprisingly calm, “but you’re going to have to be the one to sleep elsewhere. I don’t trust any alphas to stay in a small room with them.”

Kuroo opened his mouth but closed it immediately, then just nodded. He climbed up from the bed, knot still apparent on his softening cock. Slowly he picked up his clothes from the floor, giving Bokuto a good eyeful of his ass. Bokuto stayed still. Kuroo had his back to him, getting dressed slowly. When he had buttoned the last button on his shirt, he turned around.

“Should I ask a nurse to come see you?” he asked.

“No,” Bokuto said. “No one can know.”

Kuroo watched him quietly. Bokuto was suddenly filled with fear, he strode over to the alpha and took a strong hold of his shirt.

“No one can know,” he said, staring right into Kuroo’s eyes. “If someone knows, I’ll know it was you who told them.”

Kuroo’s face remained serious and empty. Then the alpha nodded.

“Of course,” he said. “I wouldn’t break your trust.”

Reluctantly Bokuto let go of the alpha’s clothes.

“Good,” he said and backed away, towards his bed. “Good.”

He was nodding his head. Somehow it felt like the best way to keep tears from blurring his vision again.

“I’ll come get my stuff later,” Kuroo said.

“Good,” Bokuto repeated.

He could hear how monotonous his voice was. He knew that he had somehow told Kuroo much more than he had wanted. His leg met the edge of the bed when Kuroo turned around, and then – Kuroo was gone.

Bokuto slumped onto the bed. It was warm. He slowly lay down and pulled the blanket over him. His bed smelled like Kuroo and an omega that he knew to be himself, even though he had rarely smelled himself over the past couple of years. The bed smelled like sex, dreams come true, it smelled like pleasure and desire. Now that Kuroo was gone, he didn’t have to stop his tears. They were dripping down his temples and into his ears, and eventually he turned around to press his face against the tattered pillow case. He cried until he could no more, and then he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last month was big bokukuro mood and I started writing this fic as pwp, it was supposed to be a oneshot with a happy fluffy ending, but then the possibility for angst presented itself and. I went there.
> 
> Also please comment, that's what keeps me from getting discouraged in writing fics.


	2. Kuroo

He went for a walk. The air was stifling, sun shining down on him like it held a grudge, and he felt like he might die from lack of air. He didn’t know how long it took, but he eventually found himself circling back to campus and approaching the omega dormitory. He could hear himself ask for Akaashi, but didn’t feel like he was talking, didn’t feel like he was in his body. He stood there, completely still, couldn’t feel a thing. The dormitory smelled nice, it was all omega kindness rather than the unruliness of the alpha dormitory. There was a plant in the corner, the big green leaves hanging down heavy, and he felt a bit like that plant.

He couldn’t remember why he was standing there, but it seemed important, so he stayed. There were footsteps. He wondered if they were his own and he just hadn’t realised he was moving yet, but soon a familiar face stopped right before him, the beautiful eyes piercing him with an unspoken question. The ink blue eyes were watching him. Usually it made him feel uneasy, like those eyes could see right through him, but he couldn’t believe that anymore. He couldn’t believe in anything.

They left together without saying a word. He didn’t know how it was possible. He didn’t know why words were ever necessary. He wondered if they had always had this quiet connection and he was just too preoccupied with his feelings to notice. There were so many things he had never known about.

They stopped at a secluded spot just outside of campus, sat on a bench in the shadowy park. It wasn’t quiet, but he felt like he was suffocating with a pressure that had sucked all noise out of their surroundings. He didn’t know what he was doing.

“I’m not busy today,” Akaashi said unexpectedly.

His voice broke the odd spell that had been binding Kuroo, and suddenly the world seemed to move at its normal pace again. Kuroo glanced at the omega next to him, Akaashi’s graceful presence was always too much for him to take it calmly. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he watched the hand that Akaashi had placed on the bench, how his fingers curved along the edge.

“I want to court you,” he said.

Akaashi turned his head slowly. Kuroo couldn’t look, he was watching the ground, the gravel next to his shoes. He had no idea what he had been even thinking, going to Akaashi after what had happened, even less why he had suddenly come out and said something he had been wanting to say for years but was never brave enough to say.

“I was wondering if you would ever ask,” Akaashi said.

Kuroo lifted his head and looked at the omega. There was a faint smile on Akaashi’s lips, and it was the most beautiful smile Kuroo had ever seen. He felt like he might not survive courting the omega if each smile sent him this close to cardiac arrest.

“You knew?” he asked, even though the answer was obvious.

Akaashi’s smile didn’t vanish.

“I can’t believe you kept me waiting for so many years,” the omega said.

Kuroo gasped and turned to look across the park. There were children playing in the play field, and a part of him wished that he was still just a child himself, just a kid who didn’t have to deal with life altering mistakes.

“But I wasn’t expecting that today,” Akaashi then said.

Kuroo turned towards the omega again, a question on his face rather than on his lips because he didn’t know what to ask, how to ask it.

“Did something happen?” Akaashi asked.

“Why?” Kuroo asked in return.

He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to confide in someone, but he could never tell Akaashi that he had bonded with another omega. He couldn’t tell anyone about Bokuto’s secret, but if he talked about what had happened, it would be easy to guess who he was talking about. He wanted Akaashi to be less observant, but then the omega would be a completely different person.

“You were like a zombie up until now,” Akaashi said. “I thought that maybe you received some bad news.”

Kuroo blinked.

“I guess you could say that,” he said.

He was so close to spilling everything. His chest was hurting with how heavy it felt, the weight of it growing each second.

“If you need to talk, I will listen,” Akaashi said.

The omega lifted his pinkie to hook it over Kuroo’s, this small touch making his head swirl.

“I had a fight with Bokuto,” he said before thinking if it made sense to reveal that.

Akaashi frowned. Akaashi was worried about him. He couldn’t believe how happy it made him to think that Akaashi cared about his friendship with Bokuto.

“It’s unusual for the two of you to fight,” Akaashi said.

Kuroo nodded and averted his eyes. He was dangerously close to saying something he shouldn’t say, and he needed a way to distract the omega, something to steer the conversation to a less dangerous topic.

“You’re usually good at dealing with his mood swings,” Akaashi said.

Kuroo’s cheeks were burning. His stomach was in knots. He wanted to take back what he had said, return to how he had finally confessed his feelings to Akaashi.

“It’s not about his mood swings,” he said instead, sounding slightly irritated, and he winced at his tone.

“Should I talk to him?” Akaashi asked.

Kuroo wondered about that. He didn’t know what good that would do. Would it change anything? Bokuto didn’t want his secret to be known by anyone, so Akaashi would get nowhere with him. It seemed that they were at an impasse and the only way out of it was to cut Bokuto out.

Cut Bokuto out. How could he? Bokuto had been his best friend almost right from the moment they met. He had never felt such connection to another alpha – although now that he knew better, maybe some part of him that he couldn’t reach had sensed the omega under Bokuto’s pheromone patches and heat suppressants. They had known each other for five years and he had thought that he knew everything there was to know, but now he could see how wrong he had been. Thinking about it, he hadn’t even known all that much. He had never found out why Bokuto seemed so disinterested in omegas, so disinterested in the topic of sex in general. He had never walked in on Bokuto masturbating, had never caught him trying to flirt with someone, and he had never bothered to try to find out why. Now that he knew, it made sense, but shouldn’t he have been a better friend and question Bokuto’s behaviour?

No, Bokuto had been lying to him all throughout their friendship. It wasn’t his fault. It was Bokuto’s own doing. It was all Bokuto’s fault.

“No,” he said. “It’s between us.”

“Then why aren’t you talking to him?” Akaashi asked.

Kuroo sighed, his frown deepening. It was a good question. He should talk to Bokuto, but how would he know if the alpha – the omega was telling the truth about other things? He could never be sure about Bokuto again, and he couldn’t believe how much it broke his heart. He leaned his elbows on his knees and hid his face in his hands. It was too much. It was all too much.

Not to mention there was a chance that Bokuto’s heat wasn’t really over. He didn’t know how suppressants affected heats, not to mention abusing suppressants. He wondered if he could ask someone without raising suspicions.

With a new sigh he raised his head.

“I don’t think I want to see him again,” he said.

Akaashi didn’t gasp, but he moved as if he had. Kuroo closed his eyes, just for a moment. Just for a moment he was in his own bubble, no worries surrounding him. But the sun was still too bright, and he opened his eyes.

“Whatever happened between the two of you, it must have been bad,” Akaashi said. “And that’s why you can’t leave it be. You’ll have to talk to him.”

“I can’t,” Kuroo said. “I just can’t.”

“Of course you can,” Akaashi said. “And you’ll have to. You’re roommates.”

“I’ll move out,” Kuroo said. “I don’t care where I live for as long as it’s not with him.”

He glanced at Akaashi, not surprised to see the look of disbelief on the omega’s face. Akaashi placed a hand on his shoulder. It burned in the most pleasant way possible, and he wished that he could feel Akaashi next to him the way he had felt Bokuto. The thought made him blush, and he hoped that Akaashi attributed that to the sudden touch rather than his filthy imagination.

“What happened?” Akaashi asked.

Kuroo shook his head.

“Why won’t you talk about it?” Akaashi asked. “You don’t usually have a problem with sharing.”

“This is different,” Kuroo said, then closed his mouth.

He had to stop talking or he might let something slip.

“I don’t want to talk about it now,” he said.

Akaashi nodded, he could see it from the corner of his eye. He didn’t think he was strong enough to face the omega, so he continued to stare forward.

“You’ll have to talk to him,” Akaashi said.

Before Kuroo could retort to that, the omega leaned in and kissed his cheek. It was a soft brush of lips against his skin, but it felt like it was everything. His eyes teared up with the emotions rallying inside him, and he could only hope that Akaashi would be discreet enough to not comment on it.

“Are you going to stay with someone tonight?” Akaashi asked.

“I’ll go to Kenma’s,” Kuroo said.

“Let me walk you to the bus stop,” Akaashi said.

They stayed on the bench for a while longer, Kuroo didn’t know how long. Their hands got closer and closer until their fingers intertwined, and they held hands without looking at each other, both of them staring into the distance. Akaashi smelled like a flower, but Kuroo didn’t know which one. He wondered what Bokuto would smell like out of heat and without his pheromone patches. He shook his head at the thought. He didn’t have to know. He didn’t want to know.

They held hands all the way to the bus stop. Akaashi waved at him before turning around and walking back to campus, and Kuroo felt like he was leaving everything behind to start a life abroad. He felt like a period of something good had ended, and what lay ahead was clouded by storms. He was staring out the window and thinking about the moment he had opened the door to his dorm room and smelled omega in heat. He had gotten hard instantly, a pinch of jealousy squeezing his stomach as he thought that Bokuto had had sex with someone while he was studying.

Then he thought about pulling the blanket off Bokuto, first seeing the sweaty face with a pleading look, then his entire body flush with heat, fingers in himself and a hand on his cock, frozen in place when the scent hit Kuroo with all its potency.

If only he had been visiting someone, staying out all day and night so he would have never learned Bokuto’s secret. He didn’t want to know, because it turned Bokuto into a different person. He was angry at Bokuto for hiding something so big from him, and angry at himself for taking it so poorly.

He was working from memory, getting off at the right stop and walking towards Kenma’s place. He popped in to the store, got a pack of beer, not even certain how many cans. Then he returned and got an apple.

Kenma did not seem delighted to see him at the door. He handed the apple to his friend.

“I brought you this,” he said monotonously.

“You brought me an apple,” Kenma stated.

Kenma took it from him with a frown, but did stand aside to let him in.

“You can make pie,” Kuroo replied and kicked his shoes off, uncaring of where they landed.

“If you want apple pie, you’re going to have to bake it yourself,” Kenma told him, but he was already slumping onto the sofa, opening the first can of beer.

“Are you seriously going to drink them warm?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo didn’t reply, swallowed slowly while staring at the balcony door. Kenma sighed, placed the apple onto the table, and hauled the rest of the beer into the kitchen. Kuroo could hear the fridge open, the cans clanking onto the shelves. The beer tasted horrible, but he continued drinking it, one small sip at a time.

Kenma sat down next to him.

“Did you fail to confess again?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo shook his head. He could hear Kenma’s frown.

“I told him,” he said. “He reciprocated.”

“Then why are you all moody in my apartment?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo sobbed, surprising himself. His eyes were dry, but he placed a hand over them, somehow managing to put his can onto the table. His hands were shaking.

“Kuro, you’re being scary,” Kenma said.

He didn’t know what to say. How to explain something he wasn’t supposed to talk about? He couldn’t even differentiate his feelings anymore, they were all just a big blob of something inside him, all trying to push their way out, and his chest had never felt so heavy.

“I fucked up,” he spat out, voice too loud, and his words echoed in his head.

Kenma perked up.

“Okay, what the hell did you do?” he asked. “If you hurt Akaashi, you know I’m going to cut ties with you.”

“It’s not about Akaashi,” Kuroo shouted.

How beautiful, he was now taking it all out on Kenma, who had done nothing wrong. He heard Kenma relax next to him.

“Then what are you talking about?” Kenma asked. “You know the rules.”

“I know the rules,” Kuroo repeated, but now covered his face with both hands.

“You’re only allowed to do your depressed drinking here if you tell me what’s going on,” Kenma said, as if Kuroo might need reminding. “Spill it.”

“I can’t,” he replied, and now he felt the tears somewhere close by. “It’s a secret.”

“Then I guess you can’t stay,” Kenma said and stood up.

Kuroo heard him stretch.

“You can take your apple with you,” Kenma said.

Kuroo lowered his hands enough to be able to look at Kenma. Kenma’s hair had gotten longer again, it was tied back in a ponytail, the black roots slowly spreading over his head. The blond strands brushed against his left shoulder as he turned to look at Kuroo.

“Okay, Kuro,” Kenma said. “You never cry.”

“I know,” Kuroo said.

The tears were burning so bad he didn’t know if it was normal.

“You’re not going to keep this secret,” Kenma said. “Talk.”

Kenma sat back next to him, one leg under himself and his pointy knee pressing against Kuroo’s thigh.

“It’s a really serious secret,” Kuroo mumbled behind his hands.

“And I’m the number one blabbermouth,” Kenma countered.

It felt like his chest might give under the pressure, like his bones might crack, and he knew that he had to tell, he had to let it out to be able to breathe.

“I knotted Bokuto,” he said quietly.

Kenma stared at him, unmoving, unimpressed.

“What?” he then asked.

“He was in heat,” Kuroo said.

The tears were now getting in his field of vision. He didn’t know how to keep them away. Kenma reached forward and forcefully pulled his hands down, exposing his quivering lips.

“Please, repeat,” Kenma said.

“Bokuto is omega,” Kuroo said.

It was quiet. Kenma still had a strong hold of his hands, and it made him feel better, safer, less alone. He was staring at Kenma just like Kenma was staring at him. Then Kenma surged forward and pressed his face against the crook of Kuroo’s neck.

“Hey!” Kuroo protested.

Kenma breathed in deep, opening Kuroo’s scent gland properly. Kuroo wanted to pull away, but didn’t. Kenma’s nose was cold.

“You smell different,” Kenma said as he sat up again. “It’s subtle. Akaashi might not notice.”

“Of course he will,” Kuroo argued. “He probably already did.”

“What?” Kenma asked, slowly letting go of Kuroo’s hands as if the alpha might fall if it was too quick. “Are you saying you bonded with one omega and then went to talk to the other?”

The first tear escaped, making its way down Kuroo’s cheekbone, slow and hot.

“I didn’t mean to,” he said, but his voice was weak and cracking.

“Kuro,” Kenma said, voice soothing in its seeming disinterest. “Which part do you find most upsetting?”

Kenma’s eyes were fire, and Kuroo couldn’t look away. He felt more tears on his face and swallowed.

His immediate answer was “knotting Bokuto”, but before he could say that, he changed his mind.

“Bokuto lied to me,” he said, his crying now apparent in his voice.

“So it’s a trust issue and not a sex issue,” Kenma mused.

“It’s both,” Kuroo added, but his voice was thick. “I didn’t want to knot him. I always just wanted Akaashi. Why did it have to happen?”

“Then why did you fuck him?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo flinched at hearing such a crude word from Kenma.

“He was in pain,” he said slowly, trying his best to not let his words slur. “You didn’t hear him beg, you have no idea how much it hurt to hear.”

A shadow appeared in Kenma’s eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

“You know I don’t know how to give sex advice,” Kenma said. “But why didn’t you just walk away?”

“He’s my friend,” Kuroo sobbed.

“Then why didn’t you pull out?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo tried his hardest to not get frustrated, knowing full well that Kenma would never understand. He took a couple of deep, shaky breaths.

“I was too into it,” he said. “I… I’ve never been that close to an omega in heat. I couldn’t even think at that point.”

Kenma’s lips tightened in thought.

“You don’t have to pretend like you understand,” Kuroo added.

“Even so, I’m still not sure what’s upsetting you so much,” Kenma said.

“How am I going to have a relationship with Akaashi if I’m bonded to someone else?” Kuroo burst out, drops of spit flying towards Kenma, who frowned in disgust.

“If Akaashi cared, he would have said something,” Kenma said. “Didn’t you say you saw him after it happened?”

Kuroo nodded and thought. Could Kenma be right? If Kenma could smell the difference in his scent, there’s no way Akaashi hadn’t noticed it, but the omega hadn’t commented on it in any way. No, Akaashi had been happy for his advances.

“I don’t think Akaashi is the problem at all,” Kenma said. “I think you’re just upset that Bokuto kept such a big secret from you.”

“Well, why wouldn’t I be,” Kuroo muttered.

He was starting to eye the unfinished can of beer again.

“He was hiding it for a reason,” Kenma said. “Besides, are you always completely honest with him?”

Kuroo was staring past Kenma, falling deep in thought. He hardly noticed how Kenma got up and left. It was true, he didn’t tell Bokuto everything. He reached for the warm can and took a drink. He tasted the metal in his mouth. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell Bokuto things, they just never came up. Like his crush on Akaashi. He had never thought Bokuto would care to know, but there was also a part of him that wanted to keep it private, wanted to preserve his feelings in case something went wrong.

And maybe, just maybe he had seen how well Bokuto and Akaashi got along, and maybe he had, for a while, thought that they had something more than friendship going on. And maybe it had been painful to think about. If he had confronted Bokuto about it and learned that he was right, it would have been too painful. And when he had figured his fears had been unfounded, there was no reason to tell, isn’t that right?

He got up and took a couple more cans out of the fridge. The cans felt chilled, but the beer was still warm. He drank them in silence, quietly staring at the balcony door and thinking about Akaashi’s gorgeous eyes, the private smiles the omega was only reserving to those closest to him, the way he had, for a while, thought that maybe Akaashi was interested in Kenma, but had later laughed at that thought.

He didn’t know how many cans he had gotten through when Akaashi suddenly morphed into Bokuto. He thought about their first meeting and the weird pull he felt between them, like they were magnets drawn to each other. Bokuto had an amazing body. Why had he noticed that? Maybe it was the kneepads, the sleeves that climbed up his muscular legs and disappeared under the shorts, how he could catch the tiniest sliver of skin when Bokuto moved or squatted. Bokuto’s arms were strong. He was the text book definition of an alpha body. Yet there was certain roundness to his hips, there was something that kept drawing Kuroo’s eyes on his ass when he was bending down or getting undressed. He had always wanted to see how that body looked underneath the clothes, but now that he thought about it, he had never seen Bokuto in the nude. Bokuto always seemed to have an excuse to take a shower before everyone else or after the rest were gone. He was always disappearing from the changing rooms.

Not having seen Bokuto’s cock flaccid, Kuroo couldn’t tell, but it would have probably given away the secret. Even when it had been erect, it was smaller than Kuroo’s cock was when flaccid. How had he never caught that? What kind of a friend was he to ignore such blatant clues?

He thought about Bokuto’s scent. There had always been something about it that didn’t sit quite right, and now he knew it was the pheromone patches’ artificial scent. Why hadn’t he questioned it sooner? He couldn’t remember why it had never bothered him enough to think about it. What he did know was that beneath the artificial scent Bokuto smelled good. It was a pleasant scent. When he had first noticed it, it had made his heart jump, but he never understood why. He couldn’t remember how he had explained it away.

Right after they had met, he had wondered if maybe Bokuto was like Kenma and was on hormones to treat it. Kenma had been on hormones for close to a year before deciding it was stupid, and back then his scent had had some similarities with Bokuto’s. How had he decided that he was wrong? He never asked, because how do you approach someone and ask them if there’s something wrong with their hormone levels. He had assumed when Bokuto never brought it up, never even seemed to know what it was. Oh, that’s right. Bokuto had once asked Kenma about his scent, too loud, and Kenma had been so devastated he had been absent from school for two days. The next time they met, Bokuto had apologised profusely, and eventually Kenma had told him about his weak hormones.

Kuroo found himself snorting. Bokuto had never known what discreet meant, yet somehow, he had managed to keep his nature hidden from everyone. It must have been hard. Maybe Bokuto felt like he was walking on eggshells every single day, especially now that he lived in an alpha dormitory. Kuroo still didn’t understand why Bokuto had ever thought it to be a good idea.

Speaking of dormitories, wasn’t it odd that he and Bokuto were roommates and had been all along? He didn’t remember anyone else rooming with their friends even after requesting it specifically. He most definitely didn’t remember anyone having the same roommate two years in a row. He had never gotten a straight answer out of Bokuto when he had asked about the alph– the omega’s parents, but now he wondered if his parents were influential enough to get Bokuto the roommate he wanted. Then he remembered Bokuto telling him that his parents thought he lived off campus, and sighed. Could Bokuto have used his parents’ influence to make arrangements without letting them know?

He downed the last can that was on the table, got up and went to the kitchen. The cans were colder now, he got as many as he could carry, his arms freezing as he made his way back to the sofa. The beer tasted better now. He was either getting too drunk to care or it was cold enough to be good. He didn’t care either way. He wished that he could stop thinking.

He thought about Bokuto’s scent. Underneath the omega’s heat he had smelled the familiar scent he had learned to associate with Bokuto. It had made him feel calmer. It had made him feel so bad for the omega squirming on the bed, begging him for help. It had intoxicated him until it was too late and they were stuck, his knot fitting snuggly inside Bokuto, and it scared him how good and right it felt.

Bokuto was always his friend. Akaashi was always the omega he wanted. How could he feel so right with his cock deep inside his best friend?

He was getting teary again, so he downed the rest of the beer as fast as he could, only focusing on the taste of it, how each can tasted slightly different. He heard Kenma, but didn’t talk. He ate the food Kenma brought for him, but later couldn’t remember what it had been. He couldn’t feel his legs when Kenma pulled him up from the sofa and dragged him into the bedroom, stripped him off his clothes and pushed him down. Kenma climbed in next to him, and he pulled Kenma closer, arms holding onto the smaller man. Kenma sighed and grumbled, but didn’t really try to get away.

“You’re the only one I can trust,” he remembered muttering before falling asleep.

He knew that Kenma rolled eyes at him.

*

It was late afternoon when he finally dragged himself up, went to the bathroom and ate the food Kenma had left for him. He was surprised to find Kenma at home.

“I’m taking the day off,” Kenma answered the unasked question, not diverting his attention from the game he was playing.

“Can I stay with you until I get a new room?” Kuroo asked.

Kenma paused the game and turned his sharp stare at Kuroo.

“What’s wrong with your current room?” he asked.

Kuroo groaned, slumped back, and looked up to the ceiling.

“I don’t think I can continue to share a room with Bokuto,” he said.

“Are you angry with him?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo turned his head enough to look at Kenma.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Probably. But I’m more concerned about the bonding thing, you know.”

Kenma sniffed and turned back to his game.

“Only if you find it physically impossible,” he said before unpausing the game.

Kuroo sat there for a while until he felt strong enough to leave.

He was happy to note that his thoughts weren’t all over the place. He felt calm. His eyes were swollen and eyelids heavy, but his mind was at ease. He confidently walked into the dorm, down the hallway, and opened the door with his key.

The room was dark. The smell of sex still lingered, and it made him wince. He stepped inside and turned on the lights, shutting the door quickly to avoid alerting any neighbours to the smell. He found himself immediately turning to Bokuto’s bed. Just like the previous day, he found a lump under a blanket, except this time there was no scent of a needy omega. It was Bokuto’s usual scent, and his heart squeezed. He walked over to the window and opened it.

He stood there for a while, staring out of the window, unsure of what to do next. He turned to look at the lump that was moving gently in time with Bokuto’s breaths. He walked over to the door and left, returned with a bottle of water. He placed the bottle on Bokuto’s nightstand before approaching the lump.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been lying there since yesterday,” he said.

There was no response. If he hadn’t already seen Bokuto breathing, he might have feared that the al– the omega was dead. With a sigh he sat down on the edge of the bed. The lump under the blanket froze, then edged away from him.

“Come on,” Kuroo said and reached for the blanket. “You need to drink.”

He pulled back the blanket, exposing Bokuto’s sweaty head. The hair that had been gelled up the previous day was now flat in places and messy in others. Bokuto’s nape was pale, there was something frail about it, and Kuroo wanted to press his lips against the skin. He shook his head to focus.

“Bokuto,” he said, surprised by how even his voice was. “Look at me.”

Very slowly Bokuto started to turn, first his body, face remaining hidden until it was no longer possible. Kuroo gasped silently, when he saw how red Bokuto’s face was, how puffy his eyes and chapped his lips. It looked like his lower lip had been bleeding. Kuroo turned away and reached for the bottle, opening it and shoving it towards Bokuto, who wearily sat up.

“Drink,” Kuroo commanded.

Bokuto took the bottle, careful to not touch Kuroo’s hand, and drank, each sip slow, each swallow seeming difficult. Kuroo watched how he downed the whole bottle, then took it and placed it back on the table. He noticed that Bokuto’s pillow case had been torn in two places, which brought back vivid images of how he was holding on to the soft hips and ramming his cock as deep as it would go. He cleared his throat and sat up again.

Bokuto had never looked so miserable, and Kuroo felt bad, even worse than he had felt before. He reached out to stroke Bokuto’s cheek. It was soft. It was so soft. He leaned in and brushed his lips against Bokuto’s before pressing their mouths together. Bokuto’s chapped lips were wet from the water, his lower lip tasted like blood. The kiss was slow and soft, and it electrified Kuroo’s entire body. He lifted his other hand to Bokuto’s other cheek, holding the man softly as if he might break. There was a calm in the kiss, he swiped his tongue over Bokuto’s lips, the calm spread over them, and Bokuto’s hands were holding onto the back of his shirt, squeezing like he might disappear. Bokuto’s scent peaked, his unique scent rising above the artificial of the pheromone patches, and Kuroo’s heart felt warm.

“Kuroo,” Bokuto whispered against the kiss. “I love you.”

Kuroo pressed another small kiss on Bokuto’s lips, when he abruptly realised what was happening. He didn’t know what broke the spell, but suddenly all he could smell was the weird scent of the pheromone patches, everything felt wrong, and he stumbled away so fast he fell down and nearly pulled Bokuto with him.

“No,” he said and stumbled up. “No, this can’t happen. Oh my god, Bokuto, we’re bonded! This can’t be happening! I don’t want to be bonded to you!”

“I’m sorry,” Bokuto croaked, voice hardly audible.

Kuroo turned away and didn’t look back, packed a few essentials into his back-bag as quickly as he could, and left the room, the door slamming louder than he intended. He ran down the hallway and outside, he ran all the way to the bus stop and didn’t calm down before he was standing behind Kenma’s door and Kenma opened with a desperate frown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished writing chapter 4 so here's chapter 2 to celebrate


	3. Akaashi

After waving goodbye to Kuroo, Akaashi walked to the alpha dormitory and asked for Bokuto. He waited, almost impatient, tapping his elbow with a finger. The guard returned and said that there had been no answer. Akaashi left after a thank-you.

 _Do you need something?_ he texted Bokuto, but never received an answer.

He knew that he should let Bokuto and Kuroo work out their differences without someone interfering, but he couldn’t shake the uneasiness in him. He had never seen Kuroo so upset, and he could imagine how distraught Bokuto must be.

However, there was not much he could do if Bokuto didn’t reach out to him, and he would have to try his best to stay calm.

“What’s up?” Terushima greeted him when he entered their shared room. “You look troubled.”

“It’s really none of my business,” Akaashi said.

“Who asked for you?” Terushima asked, already turning back to the book he had been reading.

“Kuroo,” Akaashi replied. “He finally confessed.”

Terushima turned back to him, face lit up.

“It was about time!” he said and jumped up. “So! Details!”

Akaashi snickered.

“There aren’t any,” he said. “We just held hands. And I kissed his cheek.”

Terushima deflated.

“Are you serious?” he asked. “So many years and you didn’t even get a proper kiss?”

Akaashi sighed.

“He was fighting with Bokuto today,” he said. “He wasn’t exactly in the mood. I’m surprised he confessed at all. I thought he was just going to sulk.”

Terushima lifted an eyebrow, then turned and sat down again.

“He’s odd,” he said. “No offence.”

Akaashi smiled.

“He really is,” he agreed.

The smile didn’t leave his face as he sat down by his desk and took out a book. Terushima studying quietly was always an excellent time to focus, so he should get some work done. However, he couldn’t stop thinking about the odd tightness in Kuroo’s form, the stiffness in the alpha’s movements, the plead in his eyes. He wondered what they had fought about. What would make Kuroo want to move out? What could be so bad that he couldn’t talk to Bokuto to solve it?

Then there was the scent.

The moment Akaashi got close enough to Kuroo, he had smelled it, but wasn’t sure if he was right. When they sat down in the park, the scent lingered around them, and he was getting certain that it was coming from Kuroo. Then he leaned in to kiss the alpha’s cheek, and he knew: Kuroo’s scent had changed. It was a subtle change, and people who weren’t close to Kuroo would probably not notice, but Akaashi had spent years memorizing everything about the alpha.

What would make an alpha’s scent change? Akaashi looked down to his book. He had opened it on the wrong page, and searched for the right one. The first time someone’s scent changed was when they presented as alpha or omega, but Kuroo had presented years and years ago, his scent had always been clear alpha. The next time an alpha’s scent would change is bonding with an omega.

Akaashi froze in the middle of turning a page. Bonding. But it didn’t make sense. Did it?

He frowned at the book, at his half-turned page. If Kuroo had bonded with an omega, why would he have then come to Akaashi and ask to court him? Maybe it had taken the alpha years to finally get that far, but nothing Akaashi knew about him would suggest that he would be playing omegas. Besides, bonding usually included scenting, and the change in Kuroo’s scent was too subtle to suggest that the alpha had scented someone.

Yet, Akaashi could think of no other reason for a person’s scent to change.

“You’re too restless,” Terushima complained, snapping Akaashi out of it.

“Sorry,” Akaashi said and closed his book. “I’m too preoccupied.”

“Thinking about your beloved Kuroo?” Terushima asked with a teasing tone.

Akaashi hummed and turned to look at the omega who was smirking.

“What would change someone’s scent other than bonding?” he asked.

Terushima’s brows shot up.

“What?” he asked. “I don’t know.”

“Could there be a health problem that would affect your scent?” Akaashi asked.

“Hey, I’m not a doctor,” Terushima replied, “but I’ve never heard of something like that.”

Akaashi hummed in thought. Since he wasn’t able to concentrate on his work, he might as well visit the library and see if he could come up with something.

“You’re not talking about Kuroo, are you?” Terushima asked when Akaashi stood up.

“Huh?” Akaashi said absentmindedly. “No, it can’t be that.”

Terushima may have said something more, but Akaashi was too deep in thought to hear it. He headed out and to the library. The air was cooling down, and it helped him think. Before reaching his destination, he circled back towards the alpha dormitory, and asked for Bokuto again. The answer was the same: nobody answered the door.

“Are you sure he’s not there?” Akaashi asked. “He hasn’t been answering my texts.”

The guard assured him that it was nothing to worry about, and Akaashi left, not feeling any better. If anything, he felt worse. He took out his phone, stood in the middle of the courtyard and thought. He opened the message app, closed it and opened it again.

 _Are you okay?_ he wrote and sent it before he could back out.

He waited for a moment, but Bokuto didn’t open the message. With a sigh he continued to the library. He didn’t dare ask for help, so he tried his best to find something that might explain the change in Kuroo’s scent. What bothered him more than the change was that there was something eerily familiar about the new scent, as if he had smelled it before, he just couldn’t locate that memory. It made him uneasy to think about how it had made his heart squeeze differently, like finally he had found his one true mate. Even though he had had his eyes on Kuroo for years, Kuroo had never smelled as irresistible as he had today.

Akaashi spent close to three hours flipping through books, but couldn’t find anything that might have explained Kuroo’s scent. Could it be that Kuroo’s scent had changed only to him because the alpha had decided to finally court him? He hurried out with his phone in hand, searching for the right number.

Kenma didn’t pick up. Akaashi groaned in agony. He wanted to throw his phone into the pond by the library. Instead he walked over to the water and sat down on the only free bench. Every other bench had a couple sitting on it, holding hands or cuddling. Akaashi didn’t usually take issue with other people’s happiness, but right now he wanted to see more people miserable, just to prove that he wasn’t the only one.

 _What did Kuroo and Bokuto fight over?_ he texted Kenma.

He wasn’t surprised to receive a reply soon after.

_Hes drunk im not talking to him_

Akaashi smiled at his phone. At least Kenma was acting like his usual self. As for Kuroo being drunk, he didn’t know how usual that was exactly, but he hoped it wasn’t a frequent occurrence.

 _Did his scent change?_ he sent, half hoping that he wouldn’t receive an answer.

Kenma was writing a reply awfully long. It was getting frustrating. And ridiculous. Akaashi wanted to laugh. He felt like maybe he was worrying over nothing, maybe he was simply making things much bigger than they really were. He would now receive a confirmation from Kenma that no, Kuroo smelled just like he usually did.

When Kenma’s reply finally arrived, Akaashi didn’t know what to think.

_Yes_

*

For once Akaashi was pleased with having so many lectures on Friday of all days. His thoughts were completely occupied until late afternoon, and the break from thinking too hard had helped him reach a decision. After the final lecture he went over to the alpha dormitory, once again asking for Bokuto. He wasn’t surprised when the guard returned saying that there was no answer.

Akaashi headed back to his dorm, and called Kuroo. The alpha picked up unusually quickly, as if he had been holding his phone and waiting for it to ring.

“Hey, Kuroo,” Akaashi said, trying to sound cheery. “Are you free tonight? Let’s go out.”

Kuroo didn’t sound quite like himself, but at least he agreed.

“I just have to finish an assignment,” Akaashi said. “Come get me from the dorm when you’re ready, okay?”

Kuroo sounded a bit more enthusiastic this time and promised to waste no time. Akaashi could hear Kenma in the background. Just like he had thought, Kuroo hadn’t returned to the campus. It appeared that the alpha had simply forgotten to say so. The call ended up leaving Akaashi feeling more concerned for Bokuto than he had felt before; if Kuroo hadn’t returned yet, it meant that something was badly wrong between him and Bokuto.

Terushima wasn’t in the room, and Akaashi was happy to get some time to himself. He stripped out of his clothes and lay down on the bed, just to feel a bit more whole again. He wondered if he was sticking his nose into something that he should stay out of, but how could he not? Kuroo was his boyfriend now, and Bokuto was his close friend. He cared for both of them deeply.

Akaashi had gotten dressed but was back in bed when there was a knock on the door. It had gotten surprisingly late, dark already seeping in to the sunlight. He walked along the hallway with the guard just like he had the previous day, and just like then, Kuroo was waiting for him in the hall. This time the alpha looked more like himself, a big smile greeting him from a distance. He took a hold of Kuroo’s hand, causing the alpha to pause for a bit, and together they went outside.

“Kuroo,” Akaashi said. “There’s something I really want to do with you.”

“Oh?” Kuroo asked, smirking. “I’m fine with anything you want.”

Akaashi smiled back, enjoying the spike in Kuroo’s scent. It still smelled different, and it still made his heart jump differently. In fact, this scent made him think that Kuroo was the right mate for him, whereas Kuroo’s previous scent had always made him feel nice but not like they were meant to be. He held on to Kuroo’s hand just a bit tighter when they approached the alpha dormitory. He was watching Kuroo, could see how the alpha’s face was changing the closer they got to the dorm.

“What are you doing?” Kuroo asked almost weakly.

Akaashi didn’t explain, simply pulled Kuroo in and continued to hold his hand while he filled out the form stating his name and which room he was going to visit. The guard looked at Kuroo in apprehension, but didn’t comment. Kuroo followed obediently until they turned to the right hallway, when they were mere doors away from Kuroo and Bokuto’s shared room. Akaashi felt like he had to drag Kuroo the last few metres.

“Open the door,” he said gently.

Kuroo’s hands were visibly shaking when he tried to get the key into the lock. Finally, the lock clicked, and the door opened.

The first thing Akaashi realised was that it was cold. He felt Kuroo perk up next to him, and stepped into the room. The window was open. Wind had blown a stack of papers onto the floor from Kuroo’s desk. Bokuto’s desk was farther from the window and as messy as ever. Kuroo walked over to the window to shut it, while Akaashi turned to the bed where Bokuto was lying under his blanket.

“Bokuto?” he called.

There was no reaction, although maybe the alpha had gone stiffer. It was hard to tell.

“Bokuto?” Kuroo said too. “Have you not moved since I left?”

Akaashi glanced at Kuroo in worry. The alpha was staring at the lump in bed with a deep frown on his face.

“He’s been like this since yesterday?” Akaashi asked in horror.

Kuroo bit his lip and looked down to the floor.

“No,” he said quietly. “I was here a couple of hours back.”

Akaashi squinted at the alpha, but then turned to Bokuto again. There was an empty water bottle on the floor next to the bed, and he hoped it indicated that at least Bokuto had been drinking and eating.

“Bokuto?” he tried again. “You have to say something. I’ve been worried.”

Nothing. The lump didn’t even move. Akaashi was surprised to find how much it infuriated him. Talking to Kuroo had gotten him nowhere, and now talking to Bokuto proved to be as hard as trying to get an answer out of a brick wall.

“This is ridiculous,” he said.

He strode over to the bed and pulled the blanket away, exposing Bokuto and a tattered pillow case. Bokuto shied away, curling into himself and turning his head to hide his face. Akaashi could feel Kuroo hovering behind himself, something odd about his presence. Something odd about his scent. With a frown Akaashi forced Bokuto to roll over, and reluctantly the alpha did.

“Bokuto,” Akaashi said, not much more than a whisper.

Bokuto looked like a mess. His face was pale but eyes red and swollen, hair sticking out every which way. He was squinting at Akaashi, as if the light was too hard on his eyes.

“Kuroo, get him something to eat,” Akaashi said, not looking away from Bokuto.

Bokuto let out a quiet whimper. He seemed to be in his underwear, judging by his nude upper body, but Akaashi didn’t wish to risk it and peek under the blanket. He heard Kuroo shift and turned to look at the alpha in disbelief.

“What the hell, Kuroo?” he asked. “Go get him something to eat.”

Kuroo seemed terribly uneasy, eyes darting back and forth between Bokuto and Akaashi, fingers tangled together. After jumping from one foot to another for a moment longer, the alpha finally turned towards the door. Akaashi glared after him until the door was closed.

“Bokuto,” he said. “What happened. Did you two have a fight?”

Bokuto nodded weakly and closed his puffy eyes.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to sort it out,” Akaashi said, although he wasn’t so sure anymore.

Everything about the situation was odd. It seemed like he had too many pieces from different puzzles and none of them fit together. He stroked Bokuto’s hot cheek, when a scent hit him. It made his heart drum madly.

“That scent,” he said to himself.

Before Bokuto had a chance to open his eyes, Akaashi had dove down and stuck his nose against his scent gland.

“It’s your scent,” he said against Bokuto’s shoulder, nose pressing harder against the gland. “And what’s this?”

He raised his head and dragged a finger over the gland, finding it to be covered with something that resembled a bandage. He looked at Bokuto, whose eyes were open wide and round, mouth open too but no sound coming out.

“Bokuto?” Akaashi asked. “Is that a pheromone patch?”

Bokuto remained unmoving, but just when Akaashi thought that he wasn’t getting an answer this time either, Bokuto nodded shortly. Akaashi sat up properly, and Bokuto followed, leaning back to get support from the wall.

“Are you a weak alpha?” Akaashi asked, heart pounding harder than ever before. “Or are you omega?”

Bokuto didn’t have to say it: his face said it all. Still, it seemed impossible. They had spent so much time together, they had been physically very close. How could Akaashi have never noticed?

“Can I take one off?” he asked, already approaching Bokuto, who was leaning against the wall completely out of energy.

Akaashi didn’t wait for a permission, he ripped off the pheromone patch, releasing the scent that had been lurking beneath. He pressed closer, nose close to Bokuto’s exposed scent gland, and he inhaled.

“This is the scent,” he said. “This is Kuroo’s scent.”

He backed away enough to look Bokuto in the face.

“You and Kuroo are bonded,” he said.

Bokuto nodded and closed his eyes. It looked like he was going to cry.

“It’s okay,” Akaashi said, even though he didn’t know if it was okay.

He pulled Bokuto against him, the man heavy and limp, and stroked his back.

It wasn’t okay.

He still couldn’t tell what was going on, but Kuroo and Bokuto were bonded, that was a fact. Their scents weren’t as deeply intertwined as they could be, so they hadn’t scented each other, which meant that they had bonded through knotting. Kuroo had knotted Bokuto and then told Akaashi that he wanted to court him. Kuroo, who already had a bonded omega, had told him that…

It didn’t make any sense.

Bokuto’s head was heavy on his shoulder. His heart was heavy too. He didn’t know what to think anymore.

“I think I’m going to cry too,” he whispered against Bokuto’s messy hair.

It made Bokuto jolt, and slowly the omega lifted his head, red eyes watching Akaashi closely.

“Don’t cry,” Bokuto croaked. “It’s all my fault.”

Akaashi pat Bokuto’s shoulder, feeling awkward sitting next to the omega Kuroo – his supposed boyfriend – was bonded to. Bokuto’s scent was getting stronger around them, but it didn’t fill Akaashi with unease like he had expected. In fact, it made him feel safe, it convinced him that everything could be fixed, everything could be just fine.

“I’m sorry,” Bokuto said, eyes glistening. “I didn’t mean to take him from you.”

Akaashi couldn’t say anything. He was holding back tears, working his hardest to stop his eyes from tearing up. Maybe one day he would be comfortable crying in front of Bokuto, who wasn’t an alpha after all, but he couldn’t suddenly just forget years of what he had thought to be knowledge. To him Bokuto was still an alpha, even though he could now smell the truth.

Without thinking, he reached to Bokuto and ripped off the second pheromone patch. Bokuto was too weak to react quickly enough, but his face did drop, making Akaashi feel like he had just committed the worst offence possible.

“Bokuto,” he said, voice awfully timid. “Have you ever smelled me?”

Bokuto frowned and blinked slowly, trying to process the unexpected question. Akaashi allowed him his time. He was suddenly filled with nervous energy, thinking that he had stumbled upon something meaningful but still hesitant to say it out loud in case he was wrong.

“I smell you all the time?” was Bokuto’s uncertain answer.

Akaashi hummed and leaned closer, bringing his fingers over his scent gland, and started rubbing as he spoke.

“No,” he said. “I mean, have you _smelled_ me.”

A part of him felt ridiculous scenting for an omega, but his heart was hammering in his chest differently, he had to find out if he might be right after all. Bokuto’s eyes were wide as he regarded Akaashi’s actions, but he did obediently bow his head and press his face closer to Akaashi’s neck. Akaashi let his hand drop, allowing Bokuto more room to smell him. He shivered as he felt the other omega inhale, deep and good, the tip of his nose pressing against his skin.

“You smell good,” Bokuto mumbled, nose pressed over the scent gland.

“Does it make you feel different?” Akaashi asked in a whisper, too afraid to speak up.

Bokuto sniffed at his scent, brought his hands up to pull Akaashi closer.

“How did I never notice?” Bokuto muttered, almost to himself. “It must have been the suppressants.”

“You were on suppressants?” Akaashi asked, although he might have guessed.

Bokuto’s face was pressed against the crook of his neck, and he felt a full-body shiver, wrapped his arms around the omega to keep him there, keep them close together. Bokuto’s lips were dry when they pressed against his shoulder, then travelled up to his scent gland, leaving a moist trail that dried up quickly. The first kiss against his scent gland made him shudder, and he pulled Bokuto away only to then lean in and kiss the omega on the mouth, his dry lips chapped, but it felt right. Bokuto’s hair was sticky with old gel, but Akaashi pushed his fingers through it anyway, took a hold of it and tugged just slightly before letting go. Bokuto’s tongue licked against his lips, just a bit clumsy and slow, and it warmed his heart. Bokuto’s hands felt big against his back, and he never wanted to end the kiss.

However, there were many things still left unsaid, and reluctantly he back away.

“You have to tell me,” he said, forehead against Bokuto’s, the tips of their noses brushing quickly together. “Why Kuroo?”

Bokuto made a sound and tried to back away, but ended up butting their heads together when Akaashi wouldn’t let him go. Akaashi released his hold and helped Bokuto lean back against the wall.

“What do you mean?” Bokuto finally asked.

Akaashi watched the omega’s face, how his eyes looked like he was a deer caught in the headlights.

“Why did you and Kuroo bond?” Akaashi asked.

Bokuto blushed and licked his lips with his sticky tongue, then looked dissatisfied with the result and glanced at the door.

“It was an accident,” the omega replied, looking down. “It was never supposed to happen.”

Slowly Bokuto started to explain, slowly the details started fitting together in Akaashi’s head. He still failed to understand Kuroo’s actions after the fact, but he would question the alpha once he returned.

“You’ll have to see a doctor,” Akaashi said.

Bokuto looked surprised.

“Is that all?” he asked, clearly in disbelief. “Aren’t you going to berate me or get angry because I lied?”

Akaashi sighed and looked down to his hands that were resting over his thighs.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think it will take more time before I understand this whole mess.”

Bokuto squeaked. Akaashi didn’t know what it meant. He suddenly felt too tired to deal with something so complicated. He wished that he had never met such difficult people, although it seemed apparent that they were the best match for him that he could ever find.

“I don’t wat to see a doctor,” Bokuto said then. “Then they’ll know.”

Akaashi looked up at the omega’s miserable face.

“You’ve been abusing your suppressants for years,” he said slowly, hoping to not trigger a foul mood in the other omega. “You don’t know what they have done to your body. And you can’t start taking them again just like that. They might not even work anymore.”

Bokuto was pouting, his lower lip protruding the tiniest bit, and Akaashi had to look away to not forgive everything right there and then.

“You must have seen a doctor before to get the suppressants,” he added.

Bokuto was watching his own hands.

“I don’t have time to go that far just for suppressants,” he said quietly.

“It’s not just for that,” Akaashi said. “It’s for your safety.”

Bokuto didn’t look convinced, and Akaashi wished that the omega was less stubborn about certain things. He wished that Bokuto would never get on his nerves. He wished that Kuroo was already back with the food and water, but the alpha remained absent.

“Where do you think he went to get food?” Bokuto asked, as if reading Akaashi’s thoughts.

Akaashi smiled briefly.

“I have no idea,” he said. “I think he chose to go to the farthest place possible to stay away as long as he can. Why is he so afraid of you?”

Bokuto deflated a bit, and Akaashi wished that he hadn’t said anything.

“He’s angry,” Bokuto said. “He’s angry because we bonded and it will ruin his chances with you.”

Akaashi paused to stare at the omega, who seemed to be shrinking before him.

“Are you serious?” he asked. “Did you just make that up?”

Bokuto looked up at him as if apologising for his existence.

“He said so,” the omega said. “I didn’t know he liked you so much.”

Something in Bokuto’s scent shifted, and Akaashi perked up more.

“You’re in love with him,” he said in awe.

Bokuto looked like he wanted to disappear right there and then, somehow sink into the wall.

“You’re in love with him,” Akaashi repeated. “I already liked him, but I was drawn to him even more after he bonded with you.”

Bokuto lifted his head up and stared.

“You smelled it on me,” Akaashi said. “The two of us are meant to be.”

Bokuto was quiet for a moment.

“You mean,” he said quietly. “You and Kuroo?”

Akaashi smiled, exasperated, and took a hold of Bokuto’s hand.

“I mean you and me,” he said. “You know it.”

Bokuto squirmed. Akaashi noticed a light blush on his cheeks.

“Can omegas be drawn to each other?” Bokuto whispered to his lap.

“Aren’t we the living proof?” Akaashi asked.

Bokuto looked at him, almost shyly, then turned his eyes to their clenched hands. He squeezed just a bit, and Akaashi felt like his heart was leaping with joy. Finally, something was making sense. Finally, he felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

“But he hates me now,” Bokuto then said, biting his already abused lip.

“He’s just upset,” Akaashi said, although he wasn’t sure about Kuroo. “He needs some time, but he’ll get over it.”

“I’m not so sure,” Bokuto mumbled.

“He will,” Akaashi stated.

He leaned closer and waited for Bokuto to look at him. Then, eyes focused on any cues on the omega’s face, he turned towards his scent gland, bringing their necks closer. He had to turn his face away, but so far Bokuto didn’t seem to object.

When their necks touched, their scents immediately spiked. Bokuto’s skin was clammy, but something in Akaashi loved it deeply. He felt the other omega gasp and try to pull away, but he held him in place.

“Just a bit,” he said, soothing voice right next to Bokuto’s ear. “It won’t be a permanent bond.”

Maybe Bokuto wasn’t aware of many omega habits, but Akaashi had learned that during heats omegas would scent each other, only gently, and their bond lasted from a few hours up to a few days. He closed his eyes and let the feelings surge through him. He had been scented by an omega before, and it had always felt good, sensual even, but not like this. With Bokuto it felt deeper, meaningful, and erotic. He felt himself getting wet, and it made it hard to judge, when to back off. He rubbed their scent glands together once more, then backed away with a soft kiss right under Bokuto’s ear.

Bokuto had his eyes closed, his face that of ecstasy and understanding. Slowly he blinked his eyes open, then turned to look at Akaashi.

“You were right,” Bokuto said. “We perfectly fit together.”

They were surrounded by their intertwined scents, something so perfect up to the tiniest detail, that Akaashi hadn’t known it possible. It wasn’t just two scents coming together, it was a completely new scent, just as natural as any person’s unique scent was.

“You must remember,” Akaashi said, “that your scent also incorporates Kuroo. Without him we wouldn’t fit together like this.”

Bokuto was staring, wide-eyed and lips puckered slightly, a frown of concentration never leaving his face. Akaashi leaned in to press tiny kisses along the omega’s neck, and that’s when he heard the door open.

“Are you serious?” he heard Kuroo say and slam the door shut behind him. “Are you really fucking serious right now?”

Akaashi pulled away from Bokuto and turned to look at the alpha, whose face had gone red. Akaashi also noted, with triumph, that Kuroo was quickly getting a hard-on, just from their scents. This was proof enough, this was all he needed to know that one true mates were a thing and he had two of them.

Kuroo, however, was very much unaware of the revelation, and was now trying to hide his erection with the bottle of water he had gotten as he glared at the two omegas on the bed.

“First you make me bond you,” Kuroo said, clearly at the edge. “Then you steal my boyfriend?”

Akaashi knew he had his work cut out for him if he wanted to make Kuroo listen in the first place and then consider having two mates. While he had never really asked, in fear of exposing his own feelings, he had a feeling that Kuroo was rather traditional in courting. Having two mates at the same time was the exact opposite of traditional, and might be hard for Kuroo to swallow.

Before Akaashi could begin to explain, however, Kuroo leaned forward with a frown.

“Did you two scent each other?” he asked and dropped the water bottle that had been failing to hide his erection.

“Yes,” Akaashi said, before Kuroo could continue with, undoubtedly, a long and pointless rant. “You need to listen.”

“No, I don’t need to do anything,” Kuroo said.

It was unexpected. Akaashi had gotten used to Kuroo always paying attention to him, always willing to have a conversation, always somewhere close by.

“Yes, you do,” he insisted, but Kuroo was already shaking his head, placing the sandwich he had brought on Bokuto’s side table.

“I’m leaving,” Kuroo said. “This is ridiculous. I can’t believe, that my best friend would turn out to be such a shitty person.”

Akaashi leapt up from the bed and grabbed a hold of Kuroo’s wrist. The alpha reacted with instinct, pushing towards Akaashi to throw him off balance, and he was successful: Akaashi stumbled backwards and fell, hitting his elbow on a chair as he tried to gain his balance. The thud resulting from his fall echoed in his head as he sat still, pain shooting up his arm. He clutched his elbow, head bowed down as he tried to compose himself. He was the only sane person in the room, and he had to remain that way.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he heard Kuroo repeat without break. “Akaashi, I’m sorry!”

The alpha kneeled before him, reached a hand towards his hurt arm, but he backed away. He needed to worry Kuroo, just a bit, just a bit more, so the alpha wouldn’t go before he had a chance to explain.

“Akaashi, did you break something?” Bokuto asked from the bed.

Akaashi was still breathing hard from both the surprise and the shock of hitting himself on something, and Kuroo was kneeling before him, still apologising, head hanging low and hands fists against his knees.

“Kuroo,” Akaashi said. “I just hit a nerve.”

The alpha lifted his head up instantly, eyes filled with worry, and Akaashi smiled, just a little bit.

“I’m sorry,” Kuroo said yet again. “I… You hit a nerve too. But I know it’s not an excuse.”

“I would have never thought you’d get violent,” Akaashi said truthfully.

Kuroo withered in front of him, mumbling apologies and berating himself. Akaashi didn’t see the situation as a red flag, not really, but a part of him was shaken by the fact that when Kuroo was angry, he could forget boundaries.

“You should smell me,” he said instead of pushing the matter further.

Kuroo lifted his head. His angry frown that had morphed into a worried frown, had now become a surprised frown.

“What?” the alpha asked.

“Smell me,” Akaashi commanded, turning his head to give Kuroo unobstructed access to his scent gland.

The alpha looked completely lost, but after a moment’s pondering leaned forward and sniffed. Akaashi hoped that Kuroo had gotten closer, that the alpha would have pressed his entire face against his neck, but he kept a distance between them, only sniffing from afar. Akaashi couldn’t see his face, so he turned to look at Bokuto instead. The omega was sitting on the bed, eating a sandwich and watching the situation unfold. Akaashi smiled, reassuring, and Bokuto smiled back, but smaller than usual.

Something shifted in Kuroo, and suddenly the alpha was close, nose poking against Akaashi’s sensitive skin, and he felt his scent gland activate differently now that there was someone actively smelling him. He let his head fall back, a silent moan aimed at the ceiling. He had always been sensitive to scent play, but knowing that it was Kuroo, one of his true mates, breathing in his scent made it much more pleasurable.

“That looks so erotic,” he heard Bokuto comment from the bed.

Akaashi turned to look at the omega who had forgotten about his sandwich in order to focus on the sight of Akaashi being smelled by Kuroo, whose hands were holding him close, pulling him closer. Then the alpha pulled back, and slowly Akaashi turned his head to face him properly.

“What’s going on?” Kuroo asked with quickened breath. “You smell like heaven.”

“I know,” Akaashi smirked. “It’s because I scented with Bokuto. Who is bonded to you.”

Kuroo stared at him for what felt like an eternity. Akaashi felt like the alpha didn’t even blink, simply stared, trying to think about the situation.

“I don’t understand,” Kuroo then said.

“You,” Akaashi said, running his fingers over Kuroo’s shoulder, “are my one true mate. But only with Bokuto.”

“What?” Kuroo asked, glanced back towards the bed where Bokuto was finishing his sandwich. “What?”

"I don't know how else to explain it," Akaashi said.

Kuroo stared at him, long and hard, eyes boring into his face. Then the alpha abruptly turned to Bokuto.

"You're behind this, aren't you?" he asked, the accusatory tone in his voice unmistakable. "You're... You're trying to ruin my chances with Akaashi!"

"Kuroo, no," Bokuto tried to defend himself, but Kuroo wouldn't listen.

"You've been working on this since you realised I have feelings for him!" Kuroo snapped and stood up.

"You're not thinking straight," Akaashi said, but Kuroo was now solely focused on Bokuto.

"I didn't even know you were into him before yesterday," Bokuto said, but his voice was still weak, and Kuroo could easily drown it out.

"Is that why you've made sure we're always roommates?" Kuroo shouted. "So you can watch me?"

"No," Bokuto tried. "It's to protect me from alphas..."

Kuroo yelled, lifted his hands in the air, and stormed out, the door slamming shut so loud the entire corridor must have heard it. Akaashi was still sitting on the floor by Kuroo's desk, staring at the door. From his peripheral vision he could see Bokuto staring at the door as well, blanket raised to shield his body as if he was afraid of being hit. Then they slowly turned to look at each other.

"I've never seen him that angry," Bokuto said in clear disbelief.

"Or so irrational," Akaashi added. "Why would he think you're trying to steal me?"

Bokuto shrugged.

There was a knock on the door, and the guard's voice was asking them to open. With a squeak Bokuto dove under covers and Akaashi hurried to stand up. He opened the door when Bokuto had his scent glands shielded with the blanket; it wasn't the most effective way to hide his scent, but all they could do.

"Yes, we're fine," Akaashi said to the guard who peered into the room.

"Are you sure?" the guard asked, taking in the slight disarray.

"Yes," Akaashi said, surprising himself by calm he could act, his scent giving off no clues of what had just happened. "My friend is feeling sick so I'd like to stay with him a while longer."

The guard looked at Bokuto, whose face was still looking sickly.

"Fine," the guard said. "But he will have to be fine enough to walk you out."

"I'll manage that," Bokuto said with a rough voice.

Finally, the guard looked satisfied and left. Akaashi turned towards Bokuto.

"We'll probably have to let Kuroo cool down a bit," he said.

"Yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 3 because I'm impatient


	4. Bokuto

It had been long since Bokuto had spent time with someone who knew his true nature, and it wasn't easy to get used to. He constantly found himself feeling nervous when he noticed his own scent, but seeing Akaashi's pleased face was enough to calm his worries. For years he had not thought about mates or what it might feel like to live as an omega. A part of him had resigned to thinking that he would never have a mate due to the conflict of his true nature and the front he put up. Yet, he now found himself cuddling with a very affectionate Akaashi who was purring quietly, nose near his scent gland and arms holding him close.

When Akaashi had first climbed to bed, he had spluttered something even he himself couldn't understand. However, Akaashi had reassured him that omegas found solace in each other, which is why the best way to comfort a distressed omega was to have another omega cuddle them. He had been apprehensive at first, embarrassed by his nudity, but soon after Akaashi had settled with him under the blanket, he had found himself to relax, almost melt into the other omega.

"I'll talk to Kuroo again when our scent bond has dissipated," Akaashi said, fingers playing with Bokuto’s hair.

"I don't think he'll ever forgive me," Bokuto replied, and even he could hear the sadness in his voice.

"He will," Akaashi said, his scent comforting. "He just needs time to come to terms with everything."

"How come you're not angry?" Bokuto asked.

Akaashi sniggered against his shoulder.

"Maybe I'm just high on your scent," he suggested, and Bokuto had no idea whether it was a joke or something that could happen. "I guess I do feel somewhat sad that you never thought you could trust me."

Bokuto closed his eyes and turned to sniff at Akaashi's scent.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Don't be," Akaashi said. "I understand why you didn't. Or at least partly. Will you now tell me why you decided to do it in the first place?”

Akaashi smelled calming, it made Bokuto feel like everything would turn out just fine, and he wanted to stay in that sense of positivity and happiness, he wanted to believe. Slowly he started to explain the same thing he had already told Kuroo, but Akaashi was more understanding hearing about it. Akaashi knew first-hand that it was impossible for him to rise to the top of the sports world because he was an omega, but unlike Bokuto, he had come to terms with it.

As he spoke, he found Akaashi pressing closer, and his heart jumped in the same way it had jumped when he first realised he wanted to kiss Kuroo. He had never thought of Akaashi as a possible partner, but had always admired how beautiful the other omega was, how his hair looked so soft and smooth and how his ink-blue eyes seemed to look right into your soul. Akaashi smelled good. He wondered if Akaashi had always smelled just as good.

“Is your heat over?” Akaashi asked suddenly.

The thought of talking about sex-related things with Akaashi made Bokuto’s cheeks burn. He was glad that the omega had pressed his face against his shoulder so he didn’t have to see those eyes, those beautiful eyes that would see how uncomfortable he was with the thought of discussing his heat with another person.

“More or less,” he managed to say without stumbling on any words.

“Then why are you hard?” Akaashi asked and lifted his head.

It must have been a miracle, there was no other way of explaining how Bokuto had gotten a hard-on without noticing. His face was burning so hot he wondered if Akaashi could feel it from a distance. He swallowed, tried to say something, but didn’t know what. Was he hard because he was still in heat, or was he hard because cuddling with Akaashi was arousing to him? He had no idea.

“You don’t have to look so worried,” Akaashi said with a smile, and that smile made Bokuto’s heart beat even faster. “You do realise that it’s common for omegas to help each other through their heats?”

Bokuto tried to nod, but wasn’t sure what his head did in the end. He was trying to quickly come to terms with the fact that Akaashi was probably offering sex. But Akaashi was Kuroo’s boyfriend. He couldn’t have sex with Kuroo’s boyfriend.

“Bokuto?” Akaashi asked, and Bokuto was almost certain he had been asked a question.

“You’re…” he started to say, then bit his lip.

Was Akaashi still Kuroo’s boyfriend after the alpha had stormed out like that, after he had pushed Akaashi down? He didn’t understand what was going on, and it made him want to crawl away from Akaashi’s gentle hold.

“Kuroo,” he said quietly, still trying to communicate his apprehensions to the omega who was watching him with his sharp eyes.

“I thought we already established that you’re also my mate?” Akaashi said, blinking slowly. “Even if Kuroo can’t see it right now, it has to be the three of us.”

Bokuto could only stare. A part of him had thought that maybe Akaashi was simply trying to be nice, even after facing the scent evidence and the way Kuroo reacted to Akaashi’s bond scent. And Kuroo. The alpha already hated him for being a liar. He didn’t need to anger him further by having sex with his boyfriend, no matter how they might all belong together.

While he thought, his body was starting to grow hotter, and he knew for sure that it was the second wave of heat. He had thought that being knotted had been enough to stop it from happening, but apparently it hadn’t been.

“Bokuto,” Akaashi said, and his voice was soothing. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. If this was all too fast, I understand. I also understand if it feels weird for you to be with another omega like this. I know you’re not used to omega closeness.”

“It’s…” Bokuto said slowly and quietly, ashamed of his lack of knowledge. “It’s not cheating?”

Akaashi smiled in thought and his fingers danced over Bokuto’s hot shoulder.

“Usually after finding a mate,” he said, “there’s no need to get help from omegas. But if the alpha is unavailable, it’s perfectly fine to get help. Heat is too painful to be suffered through all alone.”

“But Kuroo,” Bokuto tried to make Akaashi understand without having to say it outright.

“When I agreed to being courted by him,” Akaashi said, “I didn’t give away my freedom to choose when to help an omega in need. If you want to get down to details, he hasn’t even started courting me yet. And he definitely has not asked me to be his alone.”

Bokuto swallowed. His mind was starting to get hazy with need. He felt each little brush of Akaashi’s fingers against his skin, Akaashi’s closeness was making him want more.

“Besides,” Akaashi said, “I knew there was something different in his scent, something that wasn’t there before, and that scent made me fall hard. And that scent was your scent with his. The two of you combined made me want him more.”

Bokuto closed his eyes, then opened them to see how Akaashi was looking at him.

“It made me want you, too,” the omega said. “Koutarou. Please, become my mate.”

Akaashi leaned closer. Their faces were so close the tips of their noses could touch with the slightest movement. Bokuto looked at Akaashi’s flawless face, looked at the lips that had called his name, he saw no deception in the omega’s deep blue eyes. Akaashi did want him. And he wanted Akaashi, he knew it, he just wasn’t sure if he was ready to admit it.

“Kuroo,” he said yet again, hoping it was the last time he had to utter that name before he could fully succumb to his heat that was quickly engulfing him with its growing intensity.

“Kuroo knows it just as well as I do,” Akaashi said. “He needs time to come to terms with it. He will come through.”

Akaashi didn’t stop to wait for Bokuto’s answer, he pressed their lips together, soft and questioning, and Bokuto let go of his rational side. He had to fall, he had to trust this omega to get through his heat, and after that he could think.

Akaashi’s lips were soft and friendly, very alike to how Kuroo’s had been. Akaashi’s kiss was unassuming, it was just as important as breathing, and Bokuto felt like he might melt into the omega. He would have never guessed how good it felt to kiss another omega, how good it felt to know that someone was there for him now that his body yearned for love. Akaashi’s fingers were long and graceful in the way they mapped his body, his back, arm, shoulder. There were fingers in his hair, lips on his neck, and he moaned, he arched closer to the omega next to him. He wondered if every heat could feel like this, if he would never have to suffer alone again. He might be happy.

Right now, he felt happy. The animal in him was satisfied by the presence of his mate, it knew that he wasn’t alone and would get what he needed. Akaashi’s palm was on his hip, skin smooth against his sweaty skin, and he wanted everything that he could get, because this moment meant more than any other moment in his life. Akaashi’s hand cupped his erection, Akaashi’s graceful hand was touching him, and it was surreal. He felt fingers against his hole and spread his legs. Akaashi sat up, causing him to whine with the loss of the other omega’s warmth next to him.

“Don’t worry,” Akaashi whispered, and it soothed the burning in Bokuto’s gut. “I’ve got you.”

He spread his legs more, opened them up for Akaashi who teased his puckered entrance before pushing a finger in, just the tip, just the smallest of touch, but Bokuto’s body felt it deep. He shivered and arched his back, Akaashi’s free hand a soothing presence on his hip. He wondered if this was how omegas usually felt with each other or if this was how it felt with a compatible mate. Akaashi had two fingers inside him, stretching him softly, and he was ready to come with that, he was so close, his cock throbbing against his lower stomach. Akaashi smiled, he saw it and came, the fingertips inside him pressing against his prostate, massaging it through his orgasm, and his toes curled, legs stretching around Akaashi, body unsure of whether it wanted to push back for more of pull away for a break.

“Akaashi,” he breathed out and reached down to take a hold of the omega’s wrist, the hand rising from his hip to hold his hand. “I want you.”

“You really do?” Akaashi asked.

He nodded in response, it was all he could do without begging shamelessly, and he wasn’t ready to go there.

“Then you will have me,” Akaashi said with a smile, then leaned down to press a kiss on Bokuto’s hip.

The fingers were gone from inside him, and Bokuto whined at the loss, hole quivering with need, but his eyes were strained on Akaashi who quickly stripped out of his clothes, cock beautiful and hard. Bokuto wanted to taste it, to feel its weight on his tongue, but that could wait, that would be for another day. Akaashi glanced at his face before positioning himself, the tip of his cock pressing against the slick hole. Akaashi’s entrance was slow and soft, but his hands were holding Bokuto’s hips in a vice grip. Vaguely Bokuto wondered if it would leave marks, bruises shaped like fingers on his skin. He would have to hide them, of course, they would be his secret shame, and the idea made his skin crawl with pleasure.

Akaashi’s hips rolled into him and he felt like he was about slip out of reality. Akaashi’s cock was nowhere near as big as Kuroo’s, he was just an omega, but it felt so good, it filled Bokuto just enough to make him moan from deep within his chest. Akaashi bent down over him and they kissed, lips wet and loving, and Bokuto wanted to get used to feeling like this. He took a hold of Akaashi, hands feeling big and clumsy on the lean back, narrow waist, and he felt safe.

A louder moan when Akaashi’s cock hit his prostate, and the other omega was now fucking him harder, faster. His own cock was throbbing for attention, but he couldn’t let go of Akaashi, who was breathing right next to his ear. His skin was on fire but Akaashi was soothing the burns. Akaashi came with a strangled cry, hips stuttering and thrusting harsh, and Bokuto felt how his insides were painted white. He wanted to come like that, untouched, he was so close, but couldn’t quite get there. He knew that a knot would push him over the edge, but then Akaashi placed a hand on his chest, slid it down to his aching cock, and with a few strokes came relief. Bokuto squeezed his eyes shut, tried to stifle his yell as his back arched and he pressed closer to Akaashi, whose cock was still inside him, still keeping him full.

Akaashi milked him dry, didn’t let go before he was squirming with overstimulation. And then everything was calm. Akaashi’s weight on his body was reassuring, their scents hovering over them and letting him know that this was what they needed to be. Akaashi pulled out slowly, leaving his hole twitching, but the omega never went away, their skins in contact all the time, and they were lying next to each other on the bed where Bokuto had lost his virginity to his best friend and fallen in love with is other good friend.

“Why were we never attracted to each other before?” he asked, eyes closed and nose pressed against Akaashi’s scent gland.

“It must have been your pheromone patches,” Akaashi said, and Bokuto could feel his voice echo in his chest. “They have been hiding your natural scent very well. I never knew you smelled this good.”

Bokuto opened his eyes and watched Akaashi’s gently tanned skin.

“But is this real?” he asked. “Are these feelings real or were they only brought on by attraction to scent?”

Akaashi pulled away and repositioned himself on the bed so that their faces were level. His eyes were deep and serious.

“That’s how mates are found,” he said. “You find your most compatible mate based on their scent.”

“But…” Bokuto tried to argue, but Akaashi wouldn’t let him.

“Didn’t you already like me as a person?” Akaashi asked. “Are you opposed to being my mate?”

Bokuto shook his head.

“I like you a lot, Akaashi,” he said.

Akaashi smiled, causing his heart to do funny things.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Akaashi said. “We were meant to be.”

Bokuto couldn’t argue with that. He had smelled their scents together. He knew how well they worked together, all three of them, and it was an unusually good compatibility. He knew couples whose scents didn’t compliment each other all that well.

“I feel like I just did something bad behind Kuroo’s back,” he had to say.

“Don’t,” Akaashi said. “Even if I didn’t want this relationship with you, I would have helped you.”

“Is that what omegas really do?” Bokuto asked, finding it hard to imagine.

Akaashi nodded.

Had Akaashi had sex with omegas before? Bokuto didn’t dare ask, but the thought wouldn’t leave him now that he had thought it. He wanted this to be Akaashi’s first time as well as his own, but the other omega knew so much about helping others in heat it was unlikely.

“Let’s go out to eat,” Akaashi suggested, interrupting Bokuto’s thoughts. “You must be starving.”

Bokuto nodded, but not very enthusiastically. He wanted to stay in bed with Akaashi. He wanted to stay in this cocoon of warmth and happiness where the outside world couldn’t touch him.

“Let’s just rest for a while longer,” Akaashi said. “It’s also good to make sure your heat is really over now.”

“Do you think it is?” Bokuto asked.

Akaashi looked at him for a while before answering.

“If we assume that your abuse of suppressants hasn’t affected the natural heat cycle, it should be,” he said. “I think it’s over. You smell different. Calmer.”

“Oh,” Bokuto said.

What else could he say? He had never been an expert in omegas, and he was definitely not an expert in medicine. He couldn’t remember what it felt like when a heat was over. He thought back to the last time he had been in heat. It was some time before graduating from high school. He had no recollection of the intensity or the length of the heat, although he knew that his heat had always come in two waves, which was apparently the norm. He didn’t remember it ever hurting as much as it had hurt this time, though.

He pressed against Akaashi’s warm body and knew that he should have done a better job at taking care of his health. It shouldn’t even be hard, simply gathering some information on how omega bodies worked to better take into consideration anything he might need. Yet, he couldn’t forget the sense of nausea that washed over him when he first presented as omega, how the heat had proven to him that his worst fears were becoming true. At least it had happened at home, so no one outside of his family knew, but the way it had broken his heart to know that he would never have a real career in volleyball because of who he was still lingered.

“You smell sad,” Akaashi whispered, and stroked his hair.

Bokuto didn’t say anything. He pressed closer to the omega next to him and wondered how Akaashi had come to terms with his fate as an omega.

*

They went out to eat. Bokuto still didn’t feel quite right, and found it hard to be his bubbly self, but Akaashi didn’t seem to mind. Akaashi seemed to be perfectly fine with him, brushing their hands together every chance he got, and Bokuto felt a surge of affection towards the omega each time. Akaashi had helped him put on new pheromone patches, he had enjoyed the way Akaashi’s fingers touched his neck, and he had leaned forward to kiss the omega’s nude chest, so smooth and soft. He had watched Akaashi’s body as the omega collected his clothes, still naked, so much more beautiful than Bokuto might have imagined. He also noted how hairless the omega was and wondered if he and his hairy body were an abomination naturally or due to his suppressants.

Akaashi had promised to wash his jeans, the ones that had gotten some of his slick on them. Bokuto wondered how he had gotten along in life this long all by himself. He should have trusted someone sooner, he should have known that he had friends who would always have his back.

Yet he couldn’t stop fearing the day when either Kuroo or Akaashi would accidentally let something slip, and suddenly his life would be over. Knowing how angry Kuroo was at him, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was an intentional slip-up, something that Kuroo would later regret.

Kuroo wasn’t like that.

Kuroo wasn’t a person who would tell on him because of a petty fight. Even if they could never be friends again, Kuroo wouldn’t let him down. And the thought made him want to cry again, and he wished that he and Akaashi weren’t out. He wanted to be back in his room where he could still smell Kuroo and pretend that everything was fine and nothing bad ever happened.

Akaashi reached over the table to take a hold of his hand.

“What are you thinking about?” the omega asked quietly.

“Kuroo,” Bokuto whispered back.

Akaashi stroked his knuckles with his thumb.

“He still cares about you,” Akaashi said, sounding certain, but Bokuto found it hard to believe. “He loves you so much, that’s why it’s hard for him to come to terms with everything.”

“He cares about you more,” Bokuto said bitterly. “Besides, you weren’t there when he came back.”

“What happened?” Akaashi asked.

Bokuto bit his lip and stared at the table. It had a smudged line of grease left behind from the previous diners.

“He kissed me,” Bokuto said. “Then he pushed me away like it was the worst thing to ever happen, and left.”

“Maybe he still sees you as alpha,” Akaashi said, keeping his voice quiet to prevent anyone from hearing. “Maybe that’s why it shocks him. Or maybe it’s because he had always viewed you as nothing more than a friend, and now he has to re-evaluate that.”

“Only because I fucked up and made him bond me,” Bokuto said, hanging his head low.

He didn’t deserve Akaashi’s reassurance and hand-hold. He didn’t deserve any of this. He should be forgotten and left to rot in his own misery.

“You didn’t make him do it,” Akaashi said. “He knew the risk, yet he still decided to go for it.”

Bokuto was so close to tears he couldn’t speak. He had to remain calm. They were in public. People could see. Alpha’s don’t cry.

Akaashi’s hand was warm and soft, it squeezed his hand just a bit, and he swallowed. He squeezed back to let the omega know that he appreciated the support. He appreciated everything Akaashi had done for him.

“Won’t it be difficult with three?” he asked abruptly.

“Huh?” Akaashi asked.

“A relationship,” Bokuto elaborated.

“No,” Akaashi said, sounding awfully certain again. “It’s going to be fine. And it helps we’re one alpha and two omegas.”

Bokuto nodded sadly, the thought of Kuroo still stinging him in ways that he had thought he had forgotten back in high school when he accepted that it would never happen between them.

“I don’t know about relationships,” he said, although Akaashi must have known it already. “I never thought about them.”

“It’s okay, Bokuto,” Akaashi reassured him. “It’s not like I’ve had any serious relationships either.”

That was enough to pull Bokuto’s head back up and eyes on Akaashi’s innocent face.

“You’ve been sleeping with alphas?” he asked, eyes wide and brains working their hardest to digest this information.

“Sure,” Akaashi said. “No one ever felt right, though. I guess my thoughts always returned to Kuroo.”

It made Bokuto slump again. Akaashi had liked Kuroo just as long as Kuroo had liked Akaashi. They would make a good couple. They were meant to be. He, on the other hand, was the outsider who was peeking in through people’s windows to get a glimpse of what life was like for people who were comfortable in their own skin, not trying to hide their nature just to pursue a career that would be over the moment he injured himself or got too old.

He didn’t notice Akaashi lean closer before the omega whispered into his ear.

“Bokuto,” he said. “If I had smelled your scent years ago, my thoughts would have been on you too.”

*

Even after everything, Bokuto still found it odd to find his heart jump when he thought about Akaashi’s way of leaning close and touching him discreetly yet intimately. It was the same feeling he had always gotten from Kuroo, back when he wasn’t abusing his drugs. He tried to think about Akaashi, what the omega had been like back then. What had been his first impression of Akaashi? He couldn’t remember. He had never given too much attention to omegas, maybe out of fear of being more easily found out if he got along too well with them, maybe simply because he knew that underneath the pretention he was still an omega so his interest lay in alphas. He tried to remember what Akaashi had looked like on the first day they met. The omega had had the same beautiful eyes that always looked sharp yet friendly, and the same soft hair that curled more intensely when he got sweaty. He was sure that Akaashi’s face had been more child-like, but couldn’t picture it. All he remembered was the way Akaashi had looked at him while thrusting into him, the way the omega smiled when he came.

Bokuto closed his eyes. Akaashi had helped him change the sheets of his bed, giving him the perfect excuse to have omega scented beddings to get rid of. He thought about the two alphas who had noticed and whistled after them, and how Akaashi had placed a calming hand on his back before he could get nervous. Now that he was lying in the bed Akaashi had made for him, he could still smell the omega’s scent lingering, he felt like Akaashi was still there to keep him calm and help him believe that things would turn out fine.

However, he had to think about Kuroo too. Now that his heat had passed, he felt like his thoughts had cleared up significantly. He knew that there was no way he could ever apologise enough for lying for years and then inadvertently forcing Kuroo into a situation where the alpha had felt obligated to help him, causing them to now be bonded. Bonding was supposed to be a decision made after courting and knowing that they were happy together. It was supposed to be a beautiful thing, something that would strengthen throughout their life together.

It had turned out that Kuroo was his one true mate. However, that realisation should have preceded the bonding. They should have held hands and kissed and smelled each other’s scents. They should have been in love first. And now it was too late. The deed was done.

Bokuto didn’t know if a bond could break, but he wanted to know. He wanted to know if Kuroo would be free of him if they never had sex again. He wished that he could go back in time and take a break with the suppressants, have a heat in private and then return like nothing had happened. Kuroo would still only have eyes for Akaashi, but at least they would still be friends.

However, then he wouldn’t know that Akaashi was drawn to him, he wouldn’t know that all three of them were meant to be, and maybe Akaashi would never feel quite satisfied with Kuroo alone. They might have found out at some point, maybe in the future, but until then things would have been just like they had been before. And it had been fine. Bokuto had been perfectly fine without remembering exactly how much Kuroo meant to him on a much deeper level than the alpha knew, even after he had blurted out a confession. Life had been easier without those feelings that were now bubbling free in his chest.

He turned to look at his night stand. He knew that he still had suppressants in the drawer. His parents made sure to send him more every month so he didn’t have to visit a pharmacy himself. He had acquired a post office box just for that, explaining that he couldn’t risk his mailman guessing what was going on, but in reality, he was just doing it to lie to them. His parents had done a lot for him, and he was lying to them every single day.

He wasn’t sure why he had decided that living in the alpha dorm was a good idea. He couldn’t remember how he had convinced himself that it was the best way to go. He had gone through the trouble of making sure that he would always be roomed with Kuroo, but now that he thought about it, he had no idea why. He could have easily lived off campus. Kuroo would have visited him a lot, most likely every day. Kuroo might have even wanted to move in with him after getting bored of the dorms. That would have enabled him to go off suppressants every six months. He wouldn’t have to wear the pheromone patches every single day and panic every time he changed them, thinking that Kuroo might return too soon and find him without the patches.

He must have been blinded by love to move in to a building full of alphas. He shuddered as he thought about rooming with someone else, someone he didn’t know. He had always known that he could trust Kuroo. He had always thought to himself, that if Kuroo somehow found out his true nature, he would still be safe with the alpha. In a way, that’s exactly what had happened too. He had just never thought of what might happen afterwards.

He stared at the drawer’s handle, thinking about the bottle of suppressants. If he wanted to stop his next heat from happening, he should take a suppressant soon. It was advised to take one 12 hours after the second wave of heat had passed, but could be stretched to 24 hours, although the effects couldn’t be guaranteed. He still had time to think, but he had no idea what to do. It was scary.

It was scary to think that he might have hurt his body and hormonal balance. It was scary to think about what might happen if he continued taking the suppressants, but also what might happen if he didn’t continue. The pheromone patches would keep his scent at bay, but he would not know exactly when his next heat would hit him. He would have to be careful about leaving the room around the right time and pray that the patches would hide his scent when he was out.

It had gotten dark in the room. He could hear voices from the living area. Alphas having a party. It was scary to think about that. All of a sudden, he was filled with dread of being in this building full of alphas, all by himself and without the protection the suppressants had given him by regulating his hormones.

He got up and reached for his phone. His first instinct was to call Kuroo, but before he even got his phone unlocked, he realised that Kuroo wasn’t an option.

Kuroo hated him. Kuroo didn’t want to be in the same room with him.

In fact, after having witnessed the way Kuroo had pushed Akaashi, he wasn’t so sure he could be comfortable around the alpha anymore.

He had always thought of Kuroo as a protector both to his secret and his person, even though the alpha hadn’t had a clue. He had known that only with Kuroo he was safe from being assaulted if his secret ever came out.

But now Kuroo hated him.

Now Kuroo thought that he had wanted to steal Akaashi to himself, and if the thought had been enough to turn the alpha against Akaashi, what would happen to him?

He lifted the phone to his ear after selecting a number, and let it ring. He let it ring for a long time, longer than usual, then just a bit longer than he wanted. Akaashi didn’t pick up.

“It’s fine,” he told himself, but in the dark of the room his words sounded hollow.

He got up from bed, stood there. He stood in the dark room. The floor was familiar under his bare feet. His heart was squeezing in a familiar way, and he didn’t like where he was headed. He had to do something, fast, something that would calm him, anything. Heaviness was already setting over his chest.

 _Think_ , he commanded himself. What always helped him in these situations?

The only answer he could think of was Kuroo or Akaashi. He turned around and picked up his phone, tried calling Akaashi again, but the omega didn’t answer. Maybe Akaashi was sleeping. Maybe Akaashi was so tired after what had happened that he had gone to bed early.

Maybe Akaashi had already gotten tired of him and was deliberately ignoring his calls. Maybe Akaashi had finally realised what a terrible person he was, lying to his best friends for years, and didn’t want to have anything to do with him.

He dropped the phone back onto the bed. He heard it bounce once.

He heard the voices in the hallway.

They were coming for him.

They had smelled him.

They knew.

He stumbled to the nightstand and pulled the drawer open. He found the bottle of pills easily without seeing properly in the darkness. He opened the bottle, hands shaking violently, and he spilled the pills all over the floor, but managed to catch one on his hand. He swallowed it dry, too scared to go out for a glass of water.

Had his pheromone patches fallen off and he hadn’t noticed?

He lifted his fingers to his scent glands, and felt the smooth surface of the patches.

His eyes were stinging, chest so heavy it was making breathing harder, and as he blinked away the tears, he picked up his phone again and called the only number he could.

The phone rang and rang, there was no answer. He had known there wouldn’t be, but at least Kuroo hadn’t immediately disconnected him. Maybe the alpha was sleeping too. Maybe everyone was asleep except him and this house of alphas. Maybe the rest of the world had disappeared.

He could hear his own heart-beat, loud like a drum, and the phone was still ringing. He closed his eyes and sobbed, just one broken sound out of him.

And finally, there was an answer.

“Hello, Bokuto,” Kenma said with his usual monotone. “Kuroo doesn’t want to speak to you.”

“Please,” Bokuto said, then had to stop to breathe.

“Is something wrong?” Kenma asked.

“Please, I need help,” Bokuto said, eyes tightly shut as he pulled his knees up and legs towards his body.

“What’s wrong?” Kenma asked. “Talk to me.”

“I can’t” Bokuto whispered, footsteps going down the hallway, and he had to listen, he had to make sure they didn’t stop behind his door.

“Is it a secret?” Kenma asked, and from the minute change in his tone, Bokuto knew.

“He told you, didn’t he?” he asked anyway.

The silence didn’t last for more than a heart-beat, but it was enough to send Bokuto to a full-blown panic.

“Yes,” Kenma said, then stopped to listen. “What’s going on? Is that your breathing?”

Bokuto wasn’t sure what Kenma meant. He was listening to the footsteps that had disappeared into the distance, but they might be sneaking back this way.

“Bokuto?” Kenma tried.

He couldn’t speak. They would hear him. He would have to pretend he wasn’t there, so they would leave him alone. He wasn’t there. He was gone. His scent was gone with him. The suppressants might have worked already. He might be fine, if he just stayed quiet, and no alpha would smell him.

“Bokuto?” he heard a different voice, but it might have been Kenma.

His hand was shaking, and suddenly the phone was too heavy to hold up. Big tears made their way down to his chin as he let his hand fall to the floor, phone still in a tight hold. He couldn’t feel his heartbeat from behind the heaviness in his chest. He felt surprisingly light-headed, and it made him feel that maybe he was fine. His head was floating up towards the sky while the rest of his body remained on the ground, leaning heavily against his bed, slowly sinking into the floor, but his head was already far away. This separation of his body was completely new, but it felt calm, and after the storm that had been brewing he was ready to welcome any change for the better.

There were shapes in the dark, and he was staring at his own desk while his head was still making its way up, closer to the space than the ground, but right as he was starting to feel like his head might pull his entire body out of the slump, something brought him back down.

There was a loud knock on the door, voices that he recognised but couldn’t name right at that moment were calling for Kuroo and him. He squeezed his eyes shut again, if he couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see him, he wasn’t there, he wasn’t there, go away.

Go away.

He pressed his face against his knees, hiding it from view of anyone who was standing it the room with him. The shadows couldn’t reach him if he couldn’t see them, that was the law, wasn’t it? He was alone and the room had grown into a grand hall, echoes of each breath he took on the walls and the ceiling was kilometres above his head. He could hear the walls moving away from him, slow dragging sounds as the room grew, the only thing staying still the floor and his bed. Everything was escaping from him.

There were voices in the hallway again, but he couldn’t tell if they were coming or going. He wanted them to go, he wanted them to leave, but they were close now, and they were in the same room because it was still growing, and every alpha was now in this same room, and they could sense him, he could feel their predators’ eyes glued on him, and he had to stay perfectly still or he would become the pray.

He wanted to shrink. He pressed his body into a tighter ball, arms stuck to his sides, head trapped between his chest and legs, but he had to shrink more, he had to become invisible.

Scratches from the door pulled him back to where he was, but he didn’t move. Who could be trying to get in? Who would try that? Had they really noticed his scent and were now coming for him? They must have stolen a spare key from the guard, and now he was alone and there were dozens of them, and the door opened. He turned his head towards the dark, but the lights flicked on and the door closed.

There was a presence in the room, and he knew this was his end. He was going to get eaten, and everything Kuroo had told him had come to pass. Of course, Kuroo had been right about other alphas, Kuroo was an alpha himself and knew exactly what it was like to have the instincts of a predator.

“Bokuto,” the presence called softly, right next to him, he could feel it crouching down. “Bokuto, I’m here.”

Without lifting his head, he slumped towards the voice, his entire body falling, and Kuroo caught him with strong arms, familiar arms, familiar warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to read this chapter through again to make sure I've caught most of the mistakes, but I'm falling asleep so I'll just post and hope that there's nothing wrong here.


	5. Kuroo

To say that he was angry was an understatement. He was fuming. He was boiling. He was ready to bite off the head from the next person who talked to him. He was ready to rip apart the body of anyone who even looked his way.

He was stomping forward, feeling how ridiculous it must have looked, smelling how angry his scent was. He wanted to yell again, but it would only make someone call the authorities, and he didn’t need to get in trouble like that. He thought about the way a few heads had peeked into the corridor as he left, the way the guard called after him, and he smirked, madly satisfied by how strong he was in his fury.

He thought about opening the door, the door that he had opened countless times, had walked in to his shared room and found Bokuto always doing something innocent, and this time… He felt his blood boil as he thought about Akaashi sitting on Bokuto’s naked lap, lips wandering over stupid Bokuto’s stupid fucking neck. Akaashi must have been conspiring with Bokuto, having been the one to send him out in the first place. The two of them had found out about his feelings and they wanted to make fun of him. They were mocking him right into his face, and he would not have it because he was an alpha. He was an alpha, and he was strong and he was above those two manipulative jerks.

He kicked a pebble as he made his way towards the only place where he still felt safe, hands stuck to his pockets. He felt how tense his face was, and revelled in the way his scent was getting stronger as he thought about the betrayal of his best friends.

Bokuto was the mastermind, he was sure. Akaashi was too kind for things like that. Bokuto had somehow managed to convince Akaashi that–

He stopped.

They had scented each other. Kuroo knew many couples who had scented each other, but had never encountered people with such harmonious bond scents. He had gotten hard the instant he smelled it, so familiar yet new, completely intoxicating, alluring him, it was an instant pull. And he had smelled the same on Akaashi, and he swore he had come just a little bit right at that moment, when Akaashi’s scent gland had opened up properly.

He looked down to make sure he was no longer hard and had not soiled his pants. It seemed to be fine. He looked fine.

Slowly he continued walking.

He thought about the way Akaashi had smelled before. Akaashi’s scent had always appealed to him, he had always known that it was a scent he would happily smell for the rest of his life. Then there was Bokuto, whose natural scent had always made him feel good, that had called out for him when the _omega_ (yes, that was important to remember) was in heat, but also afterwards. No, he shouldn’t consider that because they were bonded by that time. When he had visited Bokuto the next day, it was their bond that had made him kiss him, not the scent.

If Bokuto was omega and Akaashi was omega, why would they try to make him think that they were compatible? It would make more sense for Akaashi to get an actual alpha boyfriend if the omega wanted to humiliate him. Why would Akaashi even want to humiliate him? They had been friends for years, and he thought it was safe to say that he knew Akaashi well enough to be certain that the omega wouldn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings like that.

But then again, he had also thought he knew everything about Bokuto.

Bokuto had still been lying in bed, naked and messy. He must have been starving. Kuroo couldn’t believe that he had not taken better care of his bonded omega, even if it had been an accident. Even if Bokuto was still an alpha in the situation, he should have taken better care of him as a friend. He felt immensely childish now that he thought about his behaviour the previous day. Bokuto hadn’t forced him to have sex, yet he had still done it, knowing full well that he would not be able to stop in time to not bond the omega. He had already been losing control of his rational side before he got in bed with Bokuto, he had known perfectly well that they would bond the moment he had decided to go for it.

Yet a small part of him had hoped that it might not happen. Bokuto was his best friend, and he couldn’t really imagine a life without the omega by his side, but it was different from what he felt for Akaashi. Akaashi made him want to learn how to write poetry just so he could somehow describe how the omega made him feel. However, he still remembered how his heart had jumped when he had smelled Bokuto’s natural scent for the first time.

Would his feelings have been different if he had known that Bokuto was, in fact, omega? Obviously, there was no way to tell, not really, but he was now thinking that maybe he might have seen Bokuto as someone worth more than friendship. Although, was Bokuto really his type? Bokuto was big and burly, unlike Akaashi who was lean and beautiful. Bokuto was also hairy, which was surprising for an omega, now that he thought about it. Could it be that Bokuto had at one point tried to treat himself with hormones? Earlier he might have said Bokuto wasn’t stupid enough to do that, but knowing how the omega had abused his suppressants, it wasn’t so obvious anymore. He hadn’t really let Bokuto explain it properly – he hadn’t _bothered_ to ask, being too busy thinking about only himself – but maybe the omega’s hate for his own nature ran much deeper than he had thought. Maybe Bokuto thought it was all because of volleyball, when really he simply hated the idea of being omega?

He shouldn’t think too far. The worst thing about all this was that he no longer knew how to judge Bokuto’s character.

He didn’t know how to judge his own character either. How had he pushed Akaashi like that? He knew it had been instincts reacting before he could think, but it was scary to think he might accidentally hurt someone he really cared about. Why did Bokuto make him so angry?

He had no idea, but thinking about Bokuto and anger made him angry again. His thoughts were running in circles, and he had not come to any conclusions by the time he reached his usual grocery store, nor by the time he was standing at Kenma’s doorstep with a single can of cider and a slice of dry apple pie.

“I thought you weren’t coming back,” Kenma said, but stepped aside.

“Yeah,” Kuroo said and handed the pie to his friend.

“Only one drink?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo kicked his shoes off, then tried to arrange them neatly with his toes.

“I’ll go broke if I drink every time something bad happens,” he said, and made his way to his usual spot on the couch.

“You’re all flushed,” Kenma said and sat down next to him, placing the pie on the table.

“I walked,” Kuroo replied.

He didn’t have to look to know Kenma frowned at him.

“Spill it, then,” Kenma said.

“I had a fight with Bokuto and Akaashi,” Kuroo said.

He was surprised by his calmness.

“Why?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo opened his can and took a moment to enjoy the cider’s fruity smell. He wished that he could drink until he could remember nothing.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know.”

Kenma sniffed impatiently.

“You do,” he said sharply.

Kuroo didn’t know why he always came to Kenma, if he just wanted to drink alone. Kenma made him think harder, forced him to put his feelings into words. And even though he knew it was good for him, he didn’t really want to talk right now.

“No cider until you talk,” Kenma said and snatched his can away before he could react.

“Kitten,” he said, pouting, but it didn’t work.

It never did.

With a sigh he leaned back and looked up to the ceiling.

“They scented each other,” he said.

“Okay, just one second,” Kenma said. “I thought you were going out on a date with Akaashi?”

“Well, he had other ideas,” Kuroo said with a frown. “He was so worried about Bokuto but obviously couldn’t get in by himself.”

He heard Kenma take a sip from his can and then place it on the table next to the apple pie. Slowly he recounted what had happened, Kenma only interrupting him when he talked about pushing Akaashi. It was fine. He deserved to be scolded. He even decided to humiliate himself by telling Kenma exactly how stupidly he had stormed out and caused a scene.

“And then you decided to walk all the way here,” Kenma stated. “How long did it take? An hour? Two?”

“I don’t know,” Kuroo said. “I walked slowly. Does it matter?”

He heard Kenma shake his head. He was still watching the ceiling as if he might miss something important if he turned away.

“Well?” Kenma said then.

“Well what?” Kuroo asked in return, and turned his head to look at Kenma.

“Do you think Akaashi is right?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo turned his head towards the ceiling again.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

“You have an opinion,” Kenma pressed.

With a sigh he lifted his head up properly and turned to look at Kenma, who was watching him.

“I think it’s stupid,” he said. “But I also… I don’t know.”

“It intrigues you,” Kenma said.

He didn’t say anything. He reached for the can and lifted it to his lips. After the first sip he smirked.

“Indirect kiss from Kitten,” he said, causing Kenma to slap his shoulder before getting up and leaving him laughing.

His laughter died soon, and he drank in silence, one small sip at a time. He should have bought something stronger. He should have gone out and drank something bright-coloured until everything felt softer. He should have gotten into a fight and maybe gone home with a cute omega and fucked until he didn’t think about Bokuto and Akaashi’s intertwined scent.

He frowned when he realised that the memory of their scent stirred his cock to life. He allowed one grope, then tried to think of something else. He could not get hard in Kenma’s living room or he would lose his pouting privileges.

Right after thinking that Kenma appeared in the doorway.

“You’re still drinking that?” Kenma asked, then sat down next to him.

“Do you ever think about sex?” Kuroo asked.

Kenma groaned.

“Not this topic again,” he protested.

“Please, Kitten,” Kuroo said with a pleading voice. “You’ve never told me. I want to know.”

“Not knowing won’t kill you,” Kenma said.

“Would you have sex with me?” Kuroo asked, turning a lazy gaze towards Kenma, who was now squinting at him.

“Are you sure you weren’t hiding more alcohol under your shirt?” Kenma asked.

“Would you fuck Akaashi?” Kuroo asked next and took another sip of his drink that was quickly running out.

Surprisingly Kenma’s cheeks gained a little colour. Kuroo perked up. Kenma didn’t turn his head away, despite the uneasy look on his face.

“You would,” Kuroo said.

“That’s enough drinking,” Kenma stated and snatched the can from Kuroo for the second time that night.

Kuroo smiled as he watched Kenma drown the rest of the cider, then place the can on the table.

“You think Akaashi is hot,” he said.

Kenma glared at him.

“Don’t worry,” Kenma said. “Your boyfriend is safe from me.”

“Aww, Kitten, I didn’t mean that,” Kuroo said and leaned forward. “I know that if the two of you wanted, you would have gotten together ages ago.”

Kenma didn’t even need to roll his eyes to get the certain look of tired exasperation on his face.

“What about Hinata?” Kuroo asked.

Kenma had clearly been unprepared for the topic, as his cheeks got redder this time. Kuroo smiled knowingly.

“Why won’t you tell him?” he asked.

“He deserves someone better,” Kenma said, then closed his lips tightly.

“Kitten, he clearly thinks you are the best there is,” Kuroo said, stroking Kenma’s chin with one finger even as Kenma pulled his head away. “But you would fuck him, right?”

“If I tell you yes, will you finally drop it?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo nodded with a smile.

“Then yes, Kuro, I would fuck him,” Kenma said with clear pronunciation.

“What is it like for you?” Kuroo asked. “How do you know you want to fuck someone if you can’t smell them?”

“I can smell things,” Kenma retorted to change the subject.

“You know what I mean,” Kuroo whined. “Please, I want to understand.”

Kenma was still staring straight at him, but now he was also starting to fidget with his fingers.

“Okay,” Kuroo said and lowered his head to rest on Kenma’s knees. “I know you don’t like talking about it.”

Kenma let out a tiny sound of acknowledgment, and it was quiet. Kenma’s knees were hard and pointy. They were familiar. Kuroo suddenly felt a surge of affection towards Kenma. He felt like Kenma was the only thing he could still trust. He pressed a soft kiss on Kenma’s bare knee, and got kneed in the nose as a reward. He smiled and lifted his body upright before slumping against the backrest again.

“You’re an idiot,” Kenma said.

“I know,” Kuroo replied.

Before he could say more, his phone rang. He took it out of his pocked, then groaned when he saw Bokuto’s name and face on the screen.

“I can’t talk to him,” he said and pushed the phone onto the table.

Kenma looked at the screen.

“It could be important,” he said.

Kuroo bit his lip. He knew that Bokuto wasn’t stupid enough to call him right now for no good reason, but he couldn’t bear the thought of hearing his voice.

“You take it,” he said and handed the phone to Kenma, who wouldn’t take it. “Please, Kenma. I’ll do anything in return, just please, answer it for me.”

Kenma looked at him, then at the phone, then at him again.

“You owe me big,” Kenma said, took the phone, and answered.

Kuroo strained his ears to catch what Bokuto said, but the omega only said one word.

“Is something wrong?” Kenma asked, and Kuroo knew that his suspicions had been right.

He couldn’t hear what Bokuto said, he couldn’t hear Bokuto’s voice at all. Kenma looked worried, which increased his worry too, and he hardly even noticed that Kenma told Bokuto that he had shared the omega’s secret with Kenma.

“Is that your breathing?” Kenma asked with a frown, and Kuroo couldn’t hold back.

He surged forward and pressed his ear close to the phone. Kenma tipped it a bit so he could better hear the weird wheezing from the other end. A cold shiver ran through him. Bokuto was at a very bad place. He couldn’t remember exactly how long it had been since Bokuto had gotten so bad. Maybe a year. Maybe more. Bokuto didn’t answer Kenma anymore, so he snatched his phone back.

“Bokuto?” he tried, but the omega didn’t answer.

In fact, Bokuto had gone eerily silent. He waited for a while longer, heard a soft thud, and now he couldn’t hear Bokuto breathing at all.

“Shit!” he yelled and jumped up. “I need to go!”

“Should I do something?” Kenma asked, following him to the entrance.

“No, no, just go to sleep,” Kuroo said as he tried to get his shoes back on in a rush.

“Text me when he’s fine,” Kenma said when Kuroo pulled the door open and slammed it closed behind him.

His heart was racing, he felt it in his throat. He was still holding the phone, squeezing it closer to his ear in case he would hear something more, but it was quiet. Out of sheer luck he spotted an empty taxi and got on, asking the driver to hurry.

“Bokuto?” he tried calling for the omega again, but there was still no answer.

He had never found out why Bokuto sometimes got a panic attack or whatever they were called. Of course, the omega always had an explanation ready, but they never rang quite true, and he hadn’t wanted to pressure. Now that he knew what Bokuto had been hiding, he wondered if the anxiety was related to the secret. Maybe Bokuto feared that he would be found out? Maybe, maybe… There was no point guessing. The knot in his chest got tighter the more time passed and he wasn’t there to help. He closed his eyes and swallowed, tried to stop his thoughts from going further, but of course it didn’t work.

Could it be that Bokuto was hiding something more? Maybe the omega was depressed because of everything. Maybe Bokuto didn’t even know it himself. Why had it gotten so quiet? Kuroo’s hands were shaking as he listened to the quiet line. What had that thud been? Would Bokuto hurt himself?

It took much longer to get back to campus than Kuroo could handle, and he was now starting to crack too. What if he had made Bokuto kill himself?

What if this was a joke?

Kuroo shook his head. It was a stupid thought, and he wanted it out of his head, but it wouldn’t leave. It stayed there, gnawing on him, and he didn’t know how to get rid of it. Bokuto wouldn’t go this far. But then again, he had never thought that Bokuto would lie to him about something as big as his true nature.

The taxi finally stopped, and Kuroo handed money to the driver, not stopping to see if the driver caught the bills before he was out of the car and running towards the dorm. He disconnected the call and put the phone back in his pocket to focus on running.

The night guard frowned at him, but he paid it no mind. He didn’t stop before he was at the door to he and Bokuto’s shared room. He stood there for a while. He didn’t know what he would encounter on the other side. He was scared that when he opened the door he would walk in on Akaashi and Bokuto laughing at him, even if he had already decided that it couldn’t be true. But what scared him even more was the chance that he might find Bokuto lifeless.

He opened the door.

The room was dark, but in the light coming from the hallway he could see Bokuto sitting on the floor by his bed, head hidden between his chest and legs. He turned on the lights, and Bokuto cowered away. He took in the sight of Bokuto sitting on the floor, baby-blue pills scattered around him and the pill bottle abandoned by the night stand whose drawer was still open. First, he feared that Bokuto had really overdosed and was dying, but as he stepped closer, he could read the label on the bottle. They were suppressants.

“Bokuto,” he said quietly, trying to keep his voice soothing in spite of his racing heart and the knot in his throat.

There was no reaction. He quietly kneeled down next to his best friend.

“I’m here,” he said, hoping that it was still what Bokuto needed to hear.

Without turning his head Bokuto fell towards him, and he caught the omega. Bokuto’s right hand was holding on to his phone, the arm hanging limp by his side. Kuroo sighed in relief now that he felt Bokuto’s warmth, the omega’s shivering breaths.

Gently he pried the phone off Bokuto’s hand and reached back to place it on the table. Then his focus was all on Bokuto, arms around the muscular body. He thought about the previous times when he had done this. The first time it had happened was shortly after the beginning of their first year, and it had been the first time for Bokuto too. He was now almost certain that it had something to do with the stress of living as an alpha in an alpha dormitory. The second time had been maybe six months later, this time making it a total of three. However, this time he couldn’t be sure if the same things would still help Bokuto calm down after everything he had done.

“You’re not alone,” he whispered, looking for signs of rejection, but Bokuto was leaning closer to him.

He thought about what Bokuto had told him.

“I don’t trust alphas,” Bokuto had said.

He’s sure those were the omega’s exact words. Bokuto didn’t trust alphas. He had said it twice, but only now did he suddenly realise the implications, now that Bokuto was leaning against him at his most vulnerable, now that he knew that underneath the artificial alpha scent Bokuto was an omega.

He pulled Bokuto closer, hugged the omega as best as he could.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he said.

Bokuto stirred, but didn’t make a move to uncurl. Kuroo stroked his hair. It had been gelled again recently, and he found himself wondering what Akaashi and Bokuto had done after he had left. Akaashi had been a better partner than he was. Akaashi had been a better friend. He leaned his head down to press his face against Bokuto’s hair. It smelled like gel and sweat, it smelled like Bokuto, and his heart filled with fondness. He could feel the gentle pull of their bond, but he knew that what was drawing him more to Bokuto was something else.

He pressed a soft kiss on Bokuto’s exposed nape before straightening himself.

“Won’t you look at me?” he asked with a smile, hoping that it would make his voice even softer.

Bokuto shook his head as much as was possible.

“Come on, Bokuto,” he said and stroked the omega’s back. “Lift your head up.”

Bokuto didn’t move. Kuroo continued stroking his back. He looked at the pheromone patch that was barely visible in the folds of Bokuto’s neck and shoulders. He didn’t understand why he had never noticed them before. They were discreet enough to be easily overlooked, but he had been close to Bokuto like this before. He couldn’t believe he had been so blind.

He slid a finger over the edge of the patch.

“Can I take this off?” he asked. “I want to smell you.”

Bokuto was perfectly still, and it worried Kuroo. He shouldn’t have asked. He should have focused on pulling Bokuto out of his state of anxiety and not get side-tracked. Then Bokuto nodded.

Kuroo wanted to ask again to make sure, but he also didn’t want to risk making Bokuto feel worse. So, he slowly touched the omega’s neck, lingered over the patch to make sure that he had understood correctly. Bokuto didn’t try to stop him. In fact, he was quite sure that the omega had turned his head just a bit to allow better access to his scent gland. Kuroo ripped the patch off.

Maybe it had been a mistake. Now the room was suddenly full of Bokuto’s scent that was screaming to him, it was omega in distress, and it made his stomach drop. He could now feel the bond between them, how it was feeding his worry, but he also noticed that Bokuto’s scent calmed down a bit. He bent his head down and brought his nose close to Bokuto’s scent gland. The scent was different than what he had gotten used to, but knowing that it was pure Bokuto made him hug the omega tighter.

Bokuto’s skin was hot and sticky with sweat. Kuroo pressed the tip of his nose against the scent gland and inhaled. He could no longer smell Akaashi on Bokuto, so they had only had a temporary scent bond. He should have known. As much as he wanted to pretend that finding this out had been the only reason to take off the patch, he knew that he would have to eventually face the fact that Bokuto’s natural scent was alluring to him in a meaningful way. He was surprised that he could now differentiate between what was caused by the bond and what wasn’t, and he knew that most of what he felt had nothing to do with their bond.

The more he sniffed at Bokuto’s scent gland, the more the omega turned his head to give him better access to it, and eventually he realised that Bokuto had lifted his head up, his legs also slowly relaxing.

He could have pulled away and continued the same way he had usually helped Bokuto calm down, but now he thought about the words Bokuto had whispered to him when they kissed.

“I love you Bokuto,” he said and kissed the omega’s shoulder. “I love you so, so much. I just never thought this love could be more than friendship.”

“I’m sorry,” Bokuto said, voice a mere whisper.

“You don’t have to apologise anymore,” Kuroo said. “You already apologised.”

The he inhaled one last time before lifting his face just a bit to press his lips against the scent gland. Bokuto shivered.

“I should apologise to you,” Kuroo said.

He kissed his way up Bokuto’s neck to the omega’s ear, pulled on the earlobe with his lips before backing away.

“I’m sorry I was such a jerk,” he said, looking Bokuto in the eyes.

The omega’s eyes were still a bit swollen, but they weren’t red, which meant that he hadn’t been crying recently. Kuroo wasn’t sure if it was a good or a bad thing. Bokuto had cried during his first break, but after that he hadn’t seen the omega cry since the previous day. He wondered if Bokuto ever cried in secret, and the thought broke his heart.

“I’m sure you understand it was such a sudden situation,” he continued slowly. “I never suspected anything was going on.”

Bokuto turned his head down.

“I will get over this,” Kuroo said. “I’m sorry I reacted so poorly. You didn’t deserve it.”

“But I practically forced you to bond me,” Bokuto mumbled.

Kuroo took a hold of the omega’s hand.

“You didn’t,” he said. “You gave me a chance to leave. I chose to stay.”

“But you wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been begging,” Bokuto said with a thick voice.

“That’s not the entire reason,” Kuroo said.

Now Bokuto lifted his head up to look at him, eyes round and glistening dangerously.

“I felt bad for you, yes,” Kuroo said. “But I was also drawn to you… Like, there was something irresistible about your scent.”

“Because I was in heat,” Bokuto added, eyes getting wetter.

“That’s not it,” Kuroo said. “Obviously it’s very hard to remain in control when an omega is in heat in the same room and _right there_ and has just tried to give you head, but underneath that it was also you. Your scent. The same scent that made my heart leap when I first noticed it when we met for the first time.”

“You’re just saying,” Bokuto whispered and lowered his head again.

“I’m not,” Kuroo said. “I can’t say that suddenly I love you as something more than a friend and that somehow everything will miraculously be fine from now on. But I promise I’m telling you the truth here. I was always drawn to you in a way I couldn’t explain, and finally I’m starting to understand it.”

Bokuto didn’t say anything, but he wasn’t sobbing either. His hand was clammy in Kuroo’s hold. Kuroo waited for a moment before using his free hand to gently lift Bokuto’s head up, just a single finger under the omega’s chin.

“You can feel our bond too, can’t you?” he asked, and Bokuto nodded. “And you can clearly tell what part of your love and want for me is caused by it, right?”

Bokuto nodded again, a small frown creasing his forehead. Kuroo stroked it away with a soft touch.

“What I’m about to say is not caused by our bond, okay?” Kuroo said, and waited for Bokuto to nod, although it was hesitant. “This is me being honest both to you and to myself, okay?”

He waited, this time a bit longer, before Bokuto nodded. He squeezed the omega’s hand.

“I want to scent you,” he said.

Disbelief was the first emotion to take over Bokuto’s face, and Kuroo had expected that. He was ready.

“Can’t you smell it on me?” he asked, before the omega could say a word. “Can’t you sense how much I want you?”

He turned his head and exposed his neck, which he had never done for any omega before, and he knew that Bokuto knew it, he knew that the implications of his gesture weren’t lost on the omega. Without a word, slowly, Bokuto leaned towards him, face hovering right over his skin, and he closed his eyes. He heard Bokuto sniff, inhale slowly, felt how his scent gland activated, and he bit his lip, hoping that his scent would back his words. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he jumped lightly when the tip of Bokuto’s nose touched his skin. Scent play always felt good, but it was now intensified with the fact that he was doing it with his bonded omega. However, it was also intensified with the fact that he was doing it specifically with Bokuto.

Bokuto nuzzled against his scent gland, and the way his scent was pouring out made him sigh in pleasure. He could feel it in his cock already, and he hoped that Bokuto wouldn’t reject him. He felt like if they did this, it would help both of them heal.

He could no longer sit there like that, and let go of Bokuto’s hand in order to wrap his arms around the wide shoulders that he had never touched like this before. His breathing was getting loud, and he didn’t bother hiding the groan that escaped his lips when Bokuto pressed harder against him. The omega placed a hand on his back, his big warm hand that was so familiar yet so different now, and he wondered how it was possible that Bokuto was so big compared to him, even though he was taller, he was the alpha.

He opened his eyes and found himself looking at Bokuto’s neck, Bokuto’s exposed scent gland, and he leaned his head forward to smell the omega’s scent. It had calmed down almost to normal, and he could also now sense arousal. It must have been Bokuto’s way of saying yes. He pressed his face closer, inhaled deeper, allowed Bokuto’s natural scent to surround him like it had never surrounded him before. It was odd how familiar yet strange it was, many parts of it having been hidden by the pheromone patches. He pulled Bokuto firmly against himself, chests pressing together, and he was happy to be right here, in Bokuto’s arms, holding the omega in his arms.

He knew that he still had to ask, so he eventually pulled away, albeit reluctant. Bokuto’s eyes were closed, but the omega opened them to look at him.

“Can I scent you, Koutarou?” he asked, wasting no time.

Bokuto swallowed and let his hand slide down Kuroo’s back.

“Yes,” the omega responded quietly.

“We should probably get up from the floor,” Kuroo said.

Something about Bokuto still made him hesitate, and he needed a bit more time to make sure that the omega was really on board. Getting up was the perfect excuse to delay their bonding without making it seem that he was having second thoughts.

“My pills,” Bokuto then said, looking around them and the pills that were scattered onto the floor.

“Don’t worry about them now,” Kuroo said. “You’ve been through a lot. We can clean up later.”

Bokuto looked at the tablets before looking at Kuroo. Then he nodded, and they both stood up, still close to each other. Kuroo was trying his best to discreetly read Bokuto’s scent clues.

“You still seem so sad,” he said when he couldn’t get a straight answer.

“I’m…” Bokuto started to say but didn’t finish his thought.

Kuroo stroked the omega’s cheek, just like he had done earlier that day. It felt like a lifetime away, how he had touched the soft cheek and run away.

“What about Akaashi?” Bokuto asked out of the blue.

Kuroo’s hand froze, and he eventually let it drop down. Bokuto wasn’t meeting his eyes anymore, looking down between them.

“What about him?” Kuroo asked.

He hated how he now felt like he could no longer understand Bokuto at all. He had always felt so easy around the omega, always been certain that he knew everything they didn’t say to each other, but now it was like their connection had been broken. He desperately wanted it back, he wanted to feel like they were something special once again.

“You want him,” Bokuto muttered.

Kuroo leaned in and pressed his forehead against Bokuto’s gelled hair.

“I do,” he said. “Do you want him too?”

Bokuto nodded against his head.

“I can’t speak for him,” he said, “but didn’t he say that he wants us both?”

“I guess so,” Bokuto said quietly.

“And do you want me?” Kuroo asked, pulling away in the hopes that Bokuto would look at him.

The omega didn’t lift his head, and it made Kuroo’s heart ache. He had never felt like there were things he couldn’t tell Bokuto, and had always imagined that’s how Bokuto felt about him too. Now he had learned that he had been wrong, and suddenly he wondered if there were many more things that Bokuto couldn’t tell him for one reason or another. He closed his eyes.

“I want you,” he said, and opened his eyes to see that Bokuto was still looking down. “It’s all up to you, Koutarou. You need to make the decision that will make you happy.”

Bokuto sniffled and his shoulders shivered.

“What if I choose wrong?” he whispered.

“You can’t choose wrong,” Kuroo said and took Bokuto’s hand into his own. “If you listen to your heart, you will know.”

He stepped back and sat down on Bokuto’s unmade bed, letting go of the omega’s hand in the process. The linen was fresh, but now that he had sat down, he could smell Akaashi’s lingering scent. He was glad that Akaashi had done what he should have done in the first place. Then he wondered what exactly had happened between the two omegas. He didn’t want to ask to not appear jealous, but his stomach was in knots as he thought that maybe the omegas had shared something meaningful that he hadn’t been a part of due to his childishness and uncontrolled anger.

Without looking at Kuroo, Bokuto sat down next to him on the bed.

“I’m scared,” the omega whispered.

Kuroo lay down and pulled Bokuto down with him, forcing the omega to come face to face with him. Bokuto closed his eyes.

“What scares you?” Kuroo asked quietly.

He reached up to stroke Bokuto’s hair, the gel slowly losing its hold.

“That you’ll hurt me again,” Bokuto whispered so quietly that Kuroo had to take a moment to wonder if he had heard it correctly.

Then he felt his heart squeeze in the most unpleasant way. He had been so focused on himself that he had forgotten to consider Bokuto’s feelings. While it was true that he hadn’t known how the omega really felt for him, nobody would ever want to hear that the alpha they bonded with didn’t want to be bonded to them.

“I’m sorry,” he said and hated how his voice cracked.

He swallowed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, Bokuto was shyly watching his face.

“I’m sorry I hurt you like that,” he said.

His eyes were starting to sting, and he hated that he was so weak. He wanted to be strong, he wanted to always be the strong alpha he was. He wanted to be able to support Bokuto like he had always done.

“Please, scent me, Kuroo,” Bokuto said.

Kuroo blinked. He thought about what Bokuto had just said. Had he misunderstood somehow? But Bokuto turned his head to expose his neck and the patch-free scent gland, his scent quickly surrounding them, which was proof of how sincere Bokuto’s request was. Kuroo lifted his upper body and pressed a wet kiss on Bokuto’s neck before turning his own head to line their scent glands together.

Kuroo was in no way prepared to how pleasure surged through his body the moment he lined up their scent glands. He closed his eyes and moaned, body rubbing against Bokuto as their scents filled the air, intertwining differently than ever before. Bokuto’s neck was hot, the omega’s breath against his shoulder was hot, he pressed closer, grasping the back of Bokuto’s shirt in an attempt to ground himself somehow. Bokuto was panting hard, small whines escaping his open mouth with each stroke of their glands together, and Kuroo pressed sloppy kisses over Bokuto’s shoulder, skin or fabric, he didn’t care. He bit down gently, he could taste Bokuto’s scent, and only faintly he felt his cock throbbing, the feeling of Bokuto’s neck against his so heightened.

Bokuto spread his legs and Kuroo’s thigh slipped between them. The omega rubbed against the leg, and Kuroo moaned loudly. Their scents had mixed into a new scent, it was their bond now, and with a few more rubs of their scent glands Kuroo came, hips rolling against Bokuto’s firm body, arms pulling the omega closer to him.

He backed away to look at Bokuto, whose face was flushed and eyes bright as they looked at him. Their lips met half-way, their bond giving them a new understanding of what each wanted, and their kiss was hurried but sweet, lips searching for reassurance, tongues exploring each other, and all the while Bokuto was still humping Kuroo’s leg, the rolls of the omega’s hips getting desperate.

Kuroo pulled away from the kiss, which caused Bokuto to whine. Without a word he pulled down the omega’s pants, licked his lips when Bokuto’s cock bounced up. He crawled down on the bed and took the tip of the omega’s length in his mouth, tasting the bitter pre-come on his tongue. He thought of how Bokuto had taken his cock in his mouth, the memory of it still confusing him, the first realisation of his best friend being an omega still making his head spin. He sucked the entirety of Bokuto’s cock in his mouth, glad that he had had practice before so he could now maintain his image as the rightful alpha, some corners of his mind still finding it important to compete with Bokuto to show the other that he was the stronger and better one.

Bokuto’s fingers tangled in his hair, and he focused on the cock in his mouth, sucking loudly and popping his head up and down. Bokuto’s thighs were shaking, the muscles tensed to their limits, and shortly after that the omega came. Kuroo placed a hand on Bokuto’s hip to calm the hardest thrusts and milked the omega dry.

With a victorious smile he lifted his head up, then made a show of swallowing the release in his mouth. Bokuto was panting, looking at him with half-lidded eyes and a pleased smile.

“You need to sleep,” he said.

Something in Bokuto’s face dropped, and Kuroo sat up properly to see the omega clearly.

“Will you leave again?” Bokuto asked quietly, voice still breathy.

Kuroo smiled.

“No,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He had thought of taking a shower, but now decided otherwise. He stripped out of his pants and wiped himself as clean as he could with his underwear before lying down next to Bokuto, who immediately rolled into his arms.

“I’m right here,” Kuroo whispered.

Bokuto looked up at him, eye lashes framing his round eyes, and Kuroo kissed his forehead.

“You need sleep,” he said, and Bokuto nodded.

It didn’t take long for the omega to be fast asleep. When Kuroo was certain that Bokuto wouldn’t wake up, he carefully pulled his arm out from under the sleeping man, got up, and turned off the lights. He slowly made his way back to the bed, in the dark stepping on one of Bokuto’s pills and letting out a quiet yelp of surprise, but finally made it back next to Bokuto. He then remembered Kenma’s request to know when everything was fine, so he reached to his discarded clothes and managed to find his phone in the dark. After a quick message, he finally lay down again. He pulled the blanket over them and took the omega back in his arms. His omega.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't had much time to write lately becaus it was my birthday and I had to do some serious baking and cleaning up, so I have no idea when the last chapter will be done. But I also can't wait to post this chapter so here you go.


	6. Akaashi

Akaashi had gone to sleep feeling restless, and he woke up feeling restless. His mood was not lifted when he noticed that he had two missed calls from Bokuto from last night. What had happened over the past two days had been hard on Bokuto, and he was worried that the omega might have needed more than he had been able to give. He shouldn’t have gone to the party where Terushima had dragged him, he shouldn’t have forgotten to take his phone with him, and he definitely shouldn’t have forgotten to check it for missed calls when he had returned.

As soon as he was done with breakfast, he headed to the alpha dorms and asked to see Bokuto. The guard went to look for him, and Akaashi was left waiting nervously. He turned to look outside. It was a beautiful day, the sun making everything shine golden, and he hoped that he could be Bokuto’s sun.

When would it be good to talk to Kuroo? Akaashi and Bokuto’s scent bond was gone, so it wouldn’t be a distraction for the alpha. However, he was certain that Kuroo wouldn’t want to come see him. The alpha might not even answer his calls. Maybe his best bet was to go to Kenma’s and confront Kuroo there. Kenma might prove a useful ally.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft touch on his shoulder, and he turned around coming face to face with a smiling Kuroo.

“Bokuto is still sleeping,” Kuroo said before he could put his surprise into words.

Feeling slightly numb Akaashi filled out the visitor’s form and headed towards Kuroo and Bokuto’s room with the alpha. When had Kuroo returned? Why was the alpha acting like everything was suddenly fine? He caught a whiff of Kuroo’s scent, heart leaping in his chest. But it couldn’t be, could it?

Bokuto was sleeping in his own bed, face peaceful. There were pills scattered on the floor. Akaashi turned to look at Kuroo’s bed that was perfectly made.

“Did you sleep with Bokuto?” he asked the first question that he managed to put into words.

“Yes,” Kuroo replied.

The alpha kneeled down and started picking up the pills into the bottle that was on the floor too.

“What...?” Akaashi tried to ask more. “How...?”

Kuroo sighed, continuing to pick up the tablets one by one.

“Long story short,” he said, “I came to my senses.”

“Can I get the long version?” Akaashi asked.

He sat down on the edge of Kuroo’s bed. The alpha glanced at him, and he now noticed the bags under Kuroo’s eyes.

“Rough night?” he asked.

Kuroo nodded. He straightened up to see if he had gotten all the pills, picked up the one that he hadn’t noticed before, and then closed the bottle. One pill was crushed into small pieces, and Kuroo looked at it for a moment before simply swiping it aside.

“Are those Bokuto’s suppressants?” Akaashi asked.

“Yeah,” Kuroo said. “I don’t know what happened. We’ll have to talk about that today.”

“Now is a good time to start,” Akaashi said.

Kuroo got up from the floor, placed the pill bottle into the drawer of Bokuto’s night stand, and sat down on the omega’s bed. With a quiet voice the alpha started telling about the previous night. Akaashi’s insides clenched with guilt when he realised that Bokuto must have tried to call him for help and he hadn’t been there to provide.

“He’s fine now,” Kuroo said and turned to look at the sleeping omega behind him. “He just needed to know that I’m still here for him.”

“And you did that by scenting him?” Akaashi asked, trying his best to keep any snark out of his voice.

Kuroo’s head whipped up so fast Akaashi was worried for the alpha’s neck.

“What are you insinuating?” Kuroo asked.

“What do you think?” Akaashi challenged the alpha.

He found it hard to keep his thoughts from going to anything naughty with how good Kuroo and Bokuto’s bond smelled, and he backed away from Kuroo by pretending to just want to lean his back on the wall. He was afraid that something bad had happened last night, that the strengthened bond between Kuroo and Bokuto had been a mistake in the same way their initial bonding had been. He had to stay focused in case he would have to defend Bokuto.

“I think that you have misunderstood my intentions,” Kuroo said.

The alpha’s voice was just a bit lower than usual, probably due to him trying to talk quietly enough to let Bokuto sleep, and it was doing funny things to Akaashi’s heart. He swallowed and tried to shift his thoughts back to what Kuroo had said.

“Then why did you scent him?” Akaashi asked.

“I wanted to,” Kuroo said. “But you want more reasons, you want me to put my feelings into words.”

“Why did you think it was a good idea to do now?” Akaashi asked. “What if Bokuto only consented because he was panicking?”

“Exactly because he was panicking,” Kuroo said. “I… Look, maybe it’s hard to believe, but I do love him deeply. And I have been thinking, too. I didn’t just leave here and forget about everything.”

“If you care for him so much,” Akaashi said, somehow managing to keep his voice cold despite his drumming heart, “don’t you think you just did him a massive disservice?”

“No,” Kuroo said immediately. “In a way I have been in love with him ever since the first time I met him. It just was never obvious because I thought he was alpha, and it will still take me time to properly accept that he’s someone I’m allowed to want.”

“You don’t really mean that,” Akaashi said. “You’re just trying to rationalise your bad decision, aren’t you?”

He watched how Kuroo frowned and turned to glance at Bokuto’s sleeping form. The omega’s face was innocent in his sleep, and Akaashi felt the need to protect him strengthen.

“Akaashi,” Kuroo said, his voice so low and appealing that a part of Akaashi wanted to leap off the bed and straddle him. “It’s complicated, and maybe I’m wrong, but you also don’t know how I reacted when I first noticed his scent.”

“You’re the one who said you didn’t want to be bonded to him,” Akaashi pointed out.

Kuroo looked sincerely hurt by that statement, and Akaashi wondered if the alpha was, after all, telling the truth. The truth may not have been exactly what Kuroo said it to be, but maybe it was there, in the core of those words.

“I didn’t…” Kuroo said, voice breaking, and he coughed. “The moment I decided to have sex with Bokuto I knew I was going to bond with him.”

“That’s even worse,” Akaashi said, but his voice lacked heat due to his omega side feeling bad for the alpha it wanted.

“I know,” Kuroo said, his pitiful voice making it even harder for Akaashi to only focus on defending Bokuto. “I know I made him feel like it was his fault, and it was childish and petty of me. I should have dealt with everything in a more mature way. I should have been the respectable alpha that I always try to be, and I know I let him down.”

“Why?” Akaashi asked, not willing to say more in the hopes that Kuroo wouldn’t notice how touched he was.

“I wasn’t ready to deal with it all,” Kuroo said. “I just… I never thought that my best friend was something else than what he always told me. I never thought that the scent I first noticed back in high school would captivate me again after so many years of trying to deny it ever existed in the first place. And then there was you, and my feelings for you, and the knowledge that I gave you up the moment I climbed into bed with him.”

“Then why did you come to see me right after?” Akaashi asked.

“Because I needed some semblance of normalcy,” Kuroo said, staring at the floor between his feet. “I needed to pretend that it didn’t happen, because I was so angry.”

“I don’t get it,” Akaashi said, although he did understand some of Kuroo’s reasoning.

“I don’t get it either,” Kuroo said. “But I needed to finish our bond. I was afraid I would keep getting irrationally angry at him, even though I was angry at myself. He doesn’t deserve that. He deserves something better, someone who can always look after him and won’t push him away.”

Akaashi wanted to say something to argue, but he didn’t know what. He was staring at Kuroo’s ridiculous hair, trying to understand what the alpha was thinking.

“This is me taking responsibility,” Kuroo said and looked up, briefly meeting Akaashi’s eyes before diverting his gaze to the wall. “A bond can’t be broken, so there’s no point in waiting any longer. And I… He… I think we both needed it. I think that now we can properly work things out.”

Akaashi bit his lip in thought. He didn’t know what to say. A part of him was still immensely angry at Kuroo for treating Bokuto so badly, but he could also see how it had been hard on the alpha as well. Not to mention their bond scent was all over the room and affecting him more every minute he spent there.

“Besides,” Kuroo said. “If we were meant to be, isn’t it better that I start accepting it sooner rather than later?”

Akaashi shook his head.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said.

“I do,” Kuroo replied immediately. “We did both agree that we want each other. And we want you.”

Akaashi’s cheeks burst to flames, and his thoughts were immediately pulled away from the more important things, and he couldn’t stop wondering if the two had had sex while scenting each other. He desperately wanted to know, he wanted to see it happen, he wanted to be let in on the relationship as fully as both Kuroo and Bokuto were.

“I had sex with him,” Akaashi blurted out, then frowned as he tried to determine why his brain had found that to be an appropriate thing to say.

“I figured you may have,” Kuroo said. “His heat wasn’t over, was it?”

Akaashi shook his head, in disbelief over how well Kuroo took the information.

“I’m glad you were here to help him,” Kuroo said. “I can’t believe I let him down so completely.”

They both turned to glance at Bokuto, whose eyes were open and watching them. Kuroo jumped back in surprise.

“If the two of you want to talk about me in secret, at least go to a different room,” Bokuto muttered against the pillow.

“We weren’t trying to talk about you behind your back,” Kuroo said.

“You said some nice things,” Bokuto said quietly, then looked over at Akaashi.

“How are you feeling?” Akaashi asked.

“Good,” Bokuto said. “Complete.”

“Because of the bond,” Akaashi said.

Bokuto blushed, but nodded. He then turned his head to hide his face into the pillow. Kuroo had turned towards him, and was now slowly stroking the omega’s back.

“Did you sleep well?” Kuroo asked.

Bokuto nodded against the pillow.

“You know we need to talk,” Kuroo said softly. “You need to tell me what happened last night.”

Akaashi let out a squeak as he suddenly remembered Bokuto’s calls. Both Kuroo and Bokuto turned to look at him, and he felt his cheeks heating up, embarrassment slowly taking over.

“I’m,” he started, then swallowed. “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up. I forgot my phone.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” Bokuto said, his eyes unusually big and round.

“It’s not,” Akaashi argued. “I’m… You needed me, and I was just out partying with Terushima, and I didn’t even think to check my phone when I got back.”

“Don’t worry, Akaashi,” Bokuto said and sat up. “You wouldn’t have been able to come here anyway.”

“I would have run past the guard,” Akaashi said feebly.

Kuroo laughed and Bokuto cooed. Akaashi lifted his hands over his face, wondering how life had brought him here, to the company of the two idiots who were also his true mates.

“I need breakfast,” Bokuto announced, and Akaashi found himself to be relieved by the attention being diverted away from him.

Akaashi peeked at the two sitting across from him, and wondered if Bokuto had done it on purpose. Kuroo shifted to give Bokuto room to get up, and the omega did. Akaashi’s heart jumped when Bokuto’s nude lower body was revealed, and he was now certain that Kuroo and Bokuto had had sex the previous night. Kuroo was saying something to Bokuto, who replied as he pulled up some sweatpants to be decent, then meticulously applied new pheromone patches over his scent glands. Akaashi couldn’t hear what they were saying, his thoughts on overdrive as he tried to understand certain new realities. Kuroo and Bokuto were bonded, and seemed to be getting along again. He was extremely drawn to their scents, but the two hadn’t shown signs of being as drawn to him.

While Kuroo had just told him that the two wanted him, he was also getting uncertain as he watched how Kuroo and Bokuto acted like an old couple, just like they were always meant to be bonded. Suddenly he found it impossible to imagine himself a part of that relationship.

“I won’t take long,” Bokuto said by the door. “But I won’t be too fast either.”

And he was gone. Silence settled into the room, and Akaashi could feel Kuroo watching him.

“So,” Kuroo said when Akaashi remained quiet. “Do you still think I made a mistake bonding him?”

“I…” Akaashi started to say, but then didn’t know how to continue.

He wanted to say “yes”, he wanted to be greedy and remind Kuroo that the alpha’s attraction had been towards him and not Bokuto. He wanted to sabotage the newfound calm between the two just so he could fill in the role of the comforter. And he felt horribly guilty for thinking such things.

“We should probably talk about all this,” Kuroo said and stood up, then strode to his bed and sat down next to Akaashi. “I think that we need to play by Bokuto’s rules until he finds more confidence.”

“Uh huh,” Akaashi managed, words not forming properly in his mind.

Bokuto might not want to share now that he had gotten the alpha he had yearned for. Akaashi might be cast out completely. But Kuroo smelled so good, so inviting.

“I also think it’s only appropriate that I court you properly before we start talking about bonding,” Kuroo said.

Akaashi’s train of negative thoughts halted, and he turned to look at Kuroo, who was watching him with something gentle in his eyes.

“Bonding?” he repeated.

“Yeah,” Kuroo said. “I don’t know if it’s actually possible to bond with two omegas, but I want to try.”

“Us?” Akaashi asked.

“Yes, us,” Kuroo said and rolled his eyes, then laughed. “What are you thinking?”

Akaashi blinked and shook his head slightly.

“I’m not even sure,” he said with a hollow laugh.

“What you do with Bokuto is entirely up to the two of you,” Kuroo continued. “You can bond today or a year from now, I don’t care. But I want to feel like I’ve fulfilled my duty as an alpha and at least taken you out before we start talking about it.”

“Oh,” Akaashi said. “Okay.”

He didn’t know why he had assumed that somehow Kuroo’s feelings would have magically changed.

“However,” Kuroo said and smirked in the way that immediately made it clear that he had something mischievous in his mind. “I’m not opposed to having sex before that.”

“Oh,” Akaashi said, this time with more feeling. “Aren’t you the gentleman.”

Kuroo smirked wider and leaned closer, his scent puffing around them like cologne.

“Your scent won’t leave me alone,” the alpha said quietly. “I really want to know what you smell like when you’re turned on and writhing beneath me.”

Akaashi’s brain short-circuited at that moment. He felt the effect of Kuroo’s words in his cock.

“Hey,” Kuroo said then and leaned away again. “If Bokuto is up to it, I think we should pamper him.”

Akaashi turned to look at the alpha who was looking thoughtfully at Bokuto’s bed.

“Do you have something specific in mind?” Akaashi asked.

“Well,” Kuroo said, stretching the word to keep up the suspense. “I think it would be a good idea to help him fully understand that we both are there for him.”

“It’s also probably a good idea for you to strengthen your bond with him,” Akaashi said. “I feel like he needs it.”

Kuroo nodded in thought and then turned to look at Akaashi, eyes glistening with something wicked.

“I think that he should fuck you,” the alpha said.

Akaashi burst to laughter, simply because he hadn’t expected such a direct approach from Kuroo, who was usually interested in playing with his opponents, keeping them guessing.

“You don’t have to,” Kuroo said, but Akaashi waved him quiet.

“I think it’s a good idea,” he said. “I’d love to feel him in me.”

Kuroo’s cheeks gathered some colour, and it made Akaashi’s chest feel light. He still had a hold on Kuroo, he could still make the alpha get just the slightest bit dazed.

“Am I right in guessing that you fucked him yesterday?” Kuroo asked.

Akaashi smirked, but didn’t say anything. He knew that Kuroo understood. It was confirmed by the darkening blush on the alpha’s cheeks.

“So,” Kuroo said and cleared his throat. “I think that I should fuck him.”

“Oh?” Akaashi responded, already intrigued by the plan.

“Yeah,” Kuroo said. “While he fucks you.”

“That’s hot,” Akaashi said, voice husky and low, and he leaned towards Kuroo, causing the alpha to look bewildered.

“Yeah,” Kuroo said, clearing his throat again. “I think we should do that. If he feels up to it. You’ll have to make that call.”

“Why me?” Akaashi asked.

Kuroo turned to look at him with a seemingly innocent smile, which was never good.

“Because it’s good for the two of you,” the alpha said slowly. “It will start building a bond between the two of you. It will convince him that you still want him. It’s good for him to feel that you want him exclusively.”

“You have a point,” Akaashi said.

“Of course I do,” Kuroo said.

Akaashi snorted. Kuroo looked at him with a soft smile.

“Hey,” the alpha said quietly. “Can I kiss you? I want to kiss you.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Akaashi replied.

Suddenly they were so close he could feel Kuroo’s warmth. Kuroo looked apprehensive, the tiniest hesitation in how he leaned in, and Akaashi closed his eyes right before their lips touched. Kuroo’s lips were warm and careful, and Akaashi’s tummy twisted with how good they felt. He had been imagining it so many times, had wanted it for so long, and finally he got to experience it for real.

Kuroo soon licked over Akaashi’s lower lip, and Akaashi’s heart was making somersaults. He was suddenly thinking that it was too far too fast, but he tentatively opened his mouth just the tiniest bit to let Kuroo’s tongue in. He was positively surprised when Kuroo didn’t just suddenly push in: instead the alpha continued licking over Akaashi’s lips, over his teeth, then backed away again, sucking on Akaashi’s lower lip before pressing forward again. Akaashi had his hands on Kuroo’s waist, fingers tight in the fabric of the alpha’s shirt, and he couldn’t believe he had allowed himself to wait this long to finally kiss Kuroo.

Kuroo’s kiss was growing bolder, yet staying modest enough. He lifted his hand on Akaashi’s shoulder, fingers trailing towards the omega’s neck, and the stopped to the scent gland. Before Akaashi even fully registered it, Kuroo was rubbing his scent gland, his sweet flowery scent starting to surround them, and he was happy to hear Kuroo groan into the kiss. His heart was thumping in his chest and he would have been completely ready for the alpha to push him down on the bed and take him there.

Then Kuroo pulled away, the kiss breaking abruptly, and Akaashi tried chasing those lips, but Kuroo’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. He still had his eyes closed, he was panting lightly, and he swallowed.

“God, you’re perfect,” Kuroo whispered.

Akaashi opened his eyes and looked up to the alpha, whose eyes were on him.

“I can’t believe you kept me waiting this long,” Akaashi responded, surprised by how chiding his voice was.

“I know,” Kuroo said and lowered his head. “I know.”

And they were kissing again, softer than before, and Akaashi could have sworn that he could feel how much Kuroo wanted him in the way their lips brushed together. Kuroo backed away again, in spite of Akaashi’s whine. The alpha was still stroking his scent gland, and it was making his knees weak. He wanted to have more, he wanted to have everything now that Kuroo was finally ready to give it to him.

He leaned forward to bring their lips together again, but then the door opened, and Bokuto stepped in. Akaashi smiled at how he could hear Bokuto’s entrance, even though the omega wasn’t being particularly noisy. There was something about Bokuto’s presence that was always loud, and it warmed his heart to know that he had learned to recognise it.

“Did I interrupt something?” Bokuto asked, and the tone of his voice was a big red flag.

Akaashi quickly turned around to the omega who hadn’t closed the door completely yet, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and looking like he was shrinking with each passing second.

“No,” both Akaashi and Kuroo said at the same time, turned to glance at each other, and then burst to laughter.

It didn’t seem to convince Bokuto, but then Kuroo got up from the bed and made his way to the door, pushing Bokuto properly into the room.

“I need breakfast too,” the alpha said. “You two have fun while I’m gone.”

Akaashi barely managed to stifle the snort that was about to erupt. Bokuto looked after Kuroo even after the door was closed again, and Akaashi got up from the bed.

“How are you feeling?” he asked and approached Bokuto, who now turned towards him, looking extremely confused. “What happened last night?”

Bokuto seemed to deflate, which was quite a feat considering that he had already looked completely dejected. Akaashi lifted up a hand and brushed aside some of the hair that had settled close to Bokuto’s left eye. It was damp; Bokuto must have washed it quickly before breakfast. It was good to see the omega with his hair down for a change. It made Akaashi feel like he was seeing Bokuto for who the omega really was.

“Kuroo told me some things, but I’d like to hear it from you,” he said, when Bokuto remained quiet. “He said it has happened before. I had no idea things were that bad.”

Bokuto shifted, body turning slightly towards his bed, so Akaashi placed a hand on the omega’s shoulder and guided him to the bed that had gotten surprisingly familiar to him just the previous day.

“It’s not like it’s a common thing,” Bokuto said when they had sat down.

“Why does it happen?” Akaashi asked quietly.

He took a hold of Bokuto’s hand, and the omega squeezed his hand as if it was the one thing keeping him afloat.

“I get scared,” Bokuto whispered. “And paranoid. You have no idea how scary it is to live with alphas.”

Akaashi hummed in a semblance of understanding. He wanted to ask Bokuto about the omega’s decision to live in an alpha dormitory in the first place, but he didn’t think it was the right thing to say right now. However, he wasn’t sure what _was_ the right thing to say, so he merely squeezed Bokuto’s hand a bit harder.

“How often does it get that bad?” he finally asked.

Bokuto shook his head.

“I think last night was the fourth time,” he said. “It’s… Usually it’s manageable.”

Akaashi nodded and leaned closer to the omega, who was smelling like his usual artificial alpha scent again. He really wanted to smell the real Bokuto, but he didn’t know if he was allowed to ask for it. Before he could come to a conclusion, Bokuto spoke again.

“Without the suppressants I can smell everyone much better,” the omega said. “It’s scary too.”

“So you can smell me better too,” Akaashi said, before thinking better of it and snapping his mouth shut.

“You smell horny,” Bokuto said, staring at the opposing wall, the gloom not leaving him. “You finally got to kiss Kuroo, huh? And he got to kiss you. He must be happy.”

“I’m happy too,” Akaashi said. “But you know what would make me even happier?”

Bokuto turned to look at him with such sad eyes Akaashi felt his heart rip to pieces.

“Kissing you,” he said before Bokuto’s foul mood could pull him in as well.

Bokuto looked taken aback, his head moving back to see more of Akaashi.

“Can I kiss you, Koutarou?” Akaashi asked, hoping that his voice was seductive rather than nervous.

Bokuto opened his mouth, then closed it.

“Can I?” Akaashi repeated, leaning slightly closer, praying to whatever higher force that he wasn’t making Bokuto any more uncomfortable.

“Yes,” Bokuto finally whispered.

Akaashi didn't wait to close the distance between them, pressing his lips against Bokuto's. It was softer now that Bokuto's lips weren't chapped and dry, and it made his tummy flutter and toes curl. Bokuto kissed shy, careful lips the sweetest thing Akaashi had ever experienced, and he wondered what it would be like to kiss the other omega when they were more used to each other, more comfortable being together like this. He wondered how Bokuto kissed Kuroo, if it was the same soft hesitance that he was now tasting. If Kuroo would show his alpha assertiveness in the same way with Bokuto than he had with Akaashi.

Akaashi lifted a hand to Bokuto's shoulder and teased the patch covered scent gland with his fingers, not willing to break the kiss to ask the omega to take off the one thing that prevented him from smelling his perfect scent. He didn't want to take it off on his own either, just in case Bokuto didn't want to, so he merely hoped that the omega got his message.

Instead of taking off his pheromone patches, Bokuto placed his hands on Akaashi's waist, then his back. The omega had big warm hands and it made Akaashi feel almost like he was being held by an alpha. He enjoyed feeling so small under those hands, almost like they could break him if they wanted to, but Bokuto's hold was soft and caring, just like his kiss. Akaashi smiled into the kiss, completely enchanted by Bokuto's clumsy movements, overjoyed to know that he was only the second person to kiss the omega, he was allowed so close to Bokuto who had kept everyone a certain distance away for years to protect his secret. His fingers were in Bokuto's hair and the omega pulled him closer, and he was happy.

Bokuto was the one to pull away first, but Akaashi was so keen on kissing him more that he kept following the lips that tried to get away, pushing forward until both of them stumbled down and he found himself lying on top of a smiling Bokuto.

"You're amazing," Bokuto said in awe, eyes shining.

"So are you," Akaashi responded and pressed a quick kiss on the tip of Bokuto's nose.

"But Akaashi," Bokuto then said, going serious and somewhat sad. "What if going back on suppressants will make me stop smelling you?"

Akaashi stroked Bokuto's shoulder and thought. He had never heard of suppressants that would stop the user from being interested in sex or smelling others completely. He wondered if the suppressants used with pheromone patches could have such an effect, but he found it hard to believe. If anyone was to ask him, he would guess that Bokuto's apparent disinterest in noticing smells or thinking about sex were more likely brought on by an intense wish to stop having feelings for his best friend and accidentally blowing his cover. However, he wasn't sure how Bokuto would take such a suggestion. Maybe it was easier to blame drugs rather than your brain.

"Well," he finally said, thinking that he couldn't keep quiet any longer or Bokuto might panic, "at least you won't forget your feelings."

Bokuto hummed, but didn't smile. Akaashi wanted to make him smile, because sad Bokuto made his heart throb in the wrong way.

"Maybe it's different now that you're bonded with Kuroo," he suggested.

Bokuto considered this, fingers tightening in Akaashi's shirt, then loosening again.

"Can omegas bond together?" Bokuto asked, face gathering colour. "Permanently?"

Akaashi smiled.

"I'm not sure," he replied truthfully. "But I will gladly scent you over and over again if that's what it takes."

"Really?" Bokuto asked, eyes wide and looking at Akaashi with a serious expression.

"Yes," Akaashi said and smiled.

"Would you..." Bokuto then started, but averted his eyes, cheeks going redder. "Would you do it now?"

"Yes," Akaashi replied immediately.

Bokuto turned his eyes back to Akaashi.

"For real?" he asked.

Akaashi smiled.

"For real," he agreed.

Bokuto pressed one of his warm hands to the back of Akaashi's head and pulled him closer, the other hand still resting on Akaashi's back. They kissed, lips still searching for the right angles, the right amount of pressure, the right amount of confidence, and Akaashi was softly massaging Bokuto's scent glands, ecstatic to know that soon he would smell Bokuto again, soon he could press his nose to the crook of the other omega's neck and inhale the scent that had started it all. He was getting sloppy with his eagerness to scent Bokuto again, the first time having been the best experience he had had with another omega. He wanted to know how much more intense it would feel now that they weren't going to stop. He wondered if it would be enough to make him come untouched. He wondered how long before Kuroo returned so they could do it together.

Bokuto pulled on his hair, and he broke the kiss, gasping with the realisation that the thing he had always disliked with alphas was now turning him on. He wanted to explore this discovery, wanted to know if it was exclusively with Bokuto or with both his mates. But it wasn’t the right time for that. He would have to wait, because what mattered right now was Bokuto.

“Take off your shirt?” he suggested.

Bokuto was slightly out of breath and took a moment to consider, but then nodded. Akaashi sat up to let Bokuto move, and stripped out of his own shirt. Bokuto was going slower with his own, so Akaashi took that opportunity to get out of his jeans as well, earning a wide-eyed glance from Bokuto when the omega had tossed his shirt onto the floor.

“I’m assuming this is the direction where we’re headed,” Akaashi replied to the unasked question.

Bokuto nodded, still looking stunned, and a high-pitched voice escaped his throat. Akaashi smiled and reached out to stroke Bokuto’s cheek, then letting his fingers trail down the omega’s throat until they stopped over the scent gland.

“You’ll have to take these off too,” he said.

“I know,” Bokuto replied, voice unusually quiet.

Akaashi stroked down over Bokuto’s chest before pulling his hand away completely. Bokuto swallowed and lifted a hand to fiddle with the edge of a pheromone patch.

“It still feels weird,” Bokuto said. “You know. To know that you can smell me as an omega.”

“I understand that,” Akaashi said, even though he had no way of truly understanding such a thing. “Just remember that you can trust me.”

Bokuto nodded, and ripped off the patch he had been fingering. He folded it in half and placed it on his side table. Something was making him dawdle, his movements slow and unusually meticulous for him.

“You know that we don’t have to do anything,” Akaashi said in case Bokuto didn’t have the courage to take back his willingness to bond with him.

“I know,” Bokuto said. “But I want to.”

“Then why does it seem like you don’t?” Akaashi asked.

Bokuto glanced down to Akaashi’s lap before looking away.

“What about Kuroo?” the omega then finally said.

Akaashi leaned forward, making Bokuto look at him again.

“Kuroo told us to have fun, didn’t he?” he replied. “Believe me, he’s hoping to walk in on something juicy.”

Bokuto frowned, eyes turning to look at everything that wasn’t Akaashi. Akaashi wasn’t sure if it was a good thing, but when Bokuto didn’t seem to snap out of it, he reached out to take a hold of Bokuto’s hand. The omega’s palm was sticky with sweat, and Akaashi found himself fighting the urge to press it against his cock that was getting more interested now that Bokuto’s natural scent was starting to fill the space between them. It smelled like both Bokuto and Kuroo, it smelled like a strong bond, but it was calling for him, it was telling him to make it stronger by adding his own scent to it, and he wanted to do it so badly, he needed it, he absolutely needed it.

“You like that idea?” Bokuto asked, voice filled with surprise.

Akaashi realised that he had been staring at Bokuto’s hand, the big hand that would cup his cock and press against it oh so sweet, and he blinked a few times before looking up.

“What?” he asked, not quite sure what Bokuto was referring to.

“Kuroo walking in on us,” Bokuto said. “Your arousal just spiked.”

Akaashi’s ears were now burning, and he hoped that he wasn’t blushing. He wanted to look like he was in control to make sure that Bokuto felt safe with him.

“Oh,” he said and cleared his throat. “I mean, I find that thought hot, but that’s not what I was thinking about.”

Bokuto cocked his head to the side and stared, his eyes gold that Akaashi wanted poured all over his body.

“What were you thinking about?” Bokuto asked the obvious question.

Akaashi swallowed. He wondered if there was still a certain line that Bokuto didn’t want to cross and where that line would be right at that moment. His judgement was also starting to get muddled by arousal and the fact that he was still holding Bokuto’s big hand in his own, and he found himself to be unsure of what Bokuto’s scent was telling him other than “take me”. So, he found himself pulling Bokuto’s hand to his groin and placing it very deliberately over his growing erection, pressing a bit to feel the sweaty heat of the omega’s palm.

“This,” he whispered.

Bokuto’s lips were parted, and he was staring at his own hand cupping Akaashi’s cock. Akaashi let go, but the hand remained, Bokuto didn’t move a muscle. It was worrying, but it was also very distracting, the small pressure, the warmth enveloping his quickly hardening cock, the knowledge that Bokuto’s scent was still calling for him. Before he could decide whether he should apologise and back off, Bokuto groped softly, pressed his palm better over Akaashi’s cock, and Akaashi couldn’t think. He found himself trying to roll his hips, it being impossible since he had no support for his body.

“Please,” he whimpered before he could think otherwise.

“Akaashi,” Bokuto said, voice questioning and quiet.

Bokuto was still staring at his hand cupping Akaashi’s groin.

“Yes?” Akaashi prompted when the omega didn’t continue.

“Can I suck you off?” Bokuto asked, almost too abrupt.

Akaashi blinked in surprise, then leaned back to offer his goods for the man asking for them.

“Yes, please, fuck,” he spluttered.

He would have never ever thought that Bokuto would ask to give him head, and he shivered with the thought of Bokuto taking his cock in that hot, wet mouth and tasting him for the first time, trying to pleasure someone with his mouth for the first time. He sighed when Bokuto’s hands moved to his hips and started pulling off his underwear, the briefs that he had worn today being one of the sexier pairs he had, although he had pretended not to purposefully wear them. Bokuto scratched his hip by accident, stopped to apologise, but Akaashi gently guided his hands to continue stripping him.

“It’s a bit weird, seeing you like this,” Bokuto said when Akaashi was sitting naked before him, legs spread to present his hard cock. “I still feel like we’re only supposed to be friends.”

Akaashi shifted and tried to bring his thoughts back in his head and away from his crotch, but Bokuto smelled so good, looked so innocently sexy that he had a hard time thinking of anything other than his cock that was waiting to be touched. Maybe if he touched it himself he could think better? But before he could start lifting a hand he could already tell that it wasn’t what he needed to do now. He wished that he could simply turn his head to get away from Bokuto’s scent for a while to clear his thoughts.

“You won’t be disappointed with me?” Bokuto asked before Akaashi could come to any conclusion. “I mean… You have so much more experience.”

“Nothing you do will disappoint me,” Akaashi said, quite certain.

Bokuto looked at his face, then nodded. Akaashi wasn’t sure what was going on, but before he could form a question in words, Bokuto had taken his cock in his big hand, using his thumb to stroke over the tip.

“I can’t believe I can’t even properly remember how to jack off,” Bokuto said with a melancholic laugh.

“Ah,” Akaashi tried to say something comforting.

Bokuto looked up at his face again, now with a big smile.

“I’m sure you’ll help me remember,” the omega said.

“Uh-huh,” Akaashi managed as a response.

The next thing he knew was that Bokuto had lain down to be face to face with his cock, fingers stroking it and eyes following each movement. Bokuto’s hand was big enough to hide his entire cock, and Akaashi’s toes curled in the sheets, legs spreading wider to welcome whatever Bokuto wanted to do next. He was expecting Bokuto to take his time touching with his hands first, but the omega surprised him again by leaning forward and licking a wide wet stripe along the length of his aching cock, stopping to lap at the tip. He moaned, a bit too loud for a dorm, hips trying to push forward for more. He was heavily leaning against his arms, wondering where the hell the wall was, because he wasn’t sure he would be able to hold himself up until the end. Bokuto’s tongue wasn’t doing anything particularly amazing, simply tasting him from different angles, but the omega smelled so good that Akaashi found himself panting hard as his fists tightened around the sheets he had collected in his hands at some point.

He peeked down at Bokuto, whose face was that of concentration, lips wet and plump, fingers absentmindedly caressing Akaashi’s balls and the base of his cock. This was by far not the first time he was receiving a blowjob, nothing compared to some of the most intense blowjobs he had sometimes received from both alphas and omegas, but this was the first time his cock was being explored by someone who felt like he belonged to Akaashi just as much as Akaashi belonged to him. And that made him arch his back when Bokuto used his lips to cover the tip of his cock before opening his mouth wide and taking the entire head in.

Bokuto backed away soon, but Akaashi was already on the edge. The other omega looked at the cock in his hand and then turned to look up, and Akaashi did his best to smile.

“I’m so worried I’ll scrape you with my teeth,” Bokuto said, a small frown on his face.

It was quite probably the cutest Akaashi had ever seen Bokuto, and he had to look away for a moment, just a moment to gather his thoughts again.

“It’s…” he tried, then had to sigh before continuing. “Don’t worry too much. I’m sure you won’t hurt me.”

Bokuto hummed thoughtfully, fingers stroking Akaashi’s cock at a leisure pace.

“Are you close?” he asked then, looking back up.

“Wha–?” Akaashi breathed. “I’m… maybe?”

“It’s just,” Bokuto started, then seemed to search for the right words before slowly continuing. “I’m not sure I want to taste… everything?”

The rising intonation turning Bokuto’s concern into a question made Akaashi’s heart skip a beat. How had he never realised how amazingly cute Bokuto could be? How could such a big man be so cute? Very carefully, so as not to collapse backwards, he raised a hand and placed it on Bokuto’s head, stroked the soft hair gently.

“I’ll make sure to not come into your mouth,” he said.

“Sorry for being so difficult,” Bokuto said.

Akaashi sunk his fingers into the two-toned hair and tugged just a bit.

“No apologising,” he said. “I understand that people have different preferences, and I especially understand that this is your first time.”

Bokuto smiled thankfully, then lowered his head to return to what he had been doing. Akaashi’s hand remained in his hair, a reminder that he cared about the omega’s comfort. Bokuto took the head of his cock back into his mouth and sucked gently, pulled away to nibble on the shaft with his lips, their soft insides feeling especially good, and Akaashi’s eyes rolled as he closed them, head thrown back in pleasure. Bokuto’s other hand was pressed against his inner thigh, and it was big, it was sticky with sweat, and Akaashi had never thought that sweaty hands would turn him on that much. Bokuto took him back in his mouth again, sucked carefully, fingers wrapped around the base of his cock. The omega was practising, this was Bokuto’s first time doing this, and knowing that he made the other omega feel safe enough to try something for the first time was absolutely mind-boggling.

“I’m close,” Akaashi said, voice wavering.

He looked down to Bokuto, whose eyes had turned up, but whose lips were still wrapped around the cock before him. Akaashi’s hold of his hair tightened, he felt his orgasm building in his core, and Bokuto sucked hard, and he was pulling, he was pulling hard on the omega’s hair because he couldn’t contain his pleasure anymore.

It felt like the whole world was happening at once, and Akaashi found it difficult to follow. He came with a high-pitched moan, Bokuto’s fingers were stroking his cock, Bokuto’s fingers were pressing into the flesh of his thigh. He couldn’t hold himself up with just one arm and fell, the right side of his back hitting the wall to stop him from going all the way down. He opened his eyes, uncertain of when he had closed them, and looked at Bokuto who was still focused on his cock, semen dripping down the length of it. He then became aware of another presence in the room and turned to look to the door, where Kuroo was standing, watching them. He had known that eventually Kuroo would walk in on them, Kuroo had said that he wanted to catch them in the act, but he now found the alpha frowning, hands tight fists by his sides. Before Akaashi had caught his breath enough to say something, Kuroo growled, angry and fierce, and Akaashi’s blood ran cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes hello this fic was supposed to end with this chapter, but these three just wouldn't wrap up things in 7000 words so I decided to cut it and add one more chapter. Which I'm writing and it's also going slow because Bokuto decides to slow everything down like please, have fewer problems! But that will be the last chapter, no matter how long I need to make it because starting with Bokuto and ending with Bokuto seems approppriate for a fic that in a sense is about Bokuto.
> 
> Anyway enjoy this chapter!


	7. Bokuto

Bokuto was almost enchanted by the sight of Akaashi’s cock pulsing as it shot semen onto the omega’s tummy, and he was stroking it with his thumb, the thick vein that had immediately caught his attention in the way it protruded from such a smooth cock. He heard Kuroo enter just before Akaashi’s orgasm subsided, his bond tugging him to turn around and meet his alpha, but he wanted to look at Akaashi, he wanted to see how another omega came, he wanted to learn so many things about his own nature. He felt like he was still a teenager trying to figure out his own nature, while Akaashi was an adult, comfortable in his skin and experienced in so many ways that had always felt like a roadblock for Bokuto.

Then he smelled Kuroo’s anger, right before hearing a growl. He had once before heard an alpha growl like that, and it had shaken him for weeks. It was the growl that preceded violence, and he froze, hands still on Akaashi’s body, brain trying to decide what he needed to do to avoid confrontation. His bond was trying to reassure him, but he didn’t know how to deal with angry Kuroo, he had never needed to know. The omega in him was suggesting that he strip out of his sweatpants and present his hole so his alpha can use sex to defuse his anger, but he didn’t like that suggestion. He didn’t have anything against giving his body for Kuroo, but giving it to an angry Kuroo was scary even as an idea.

He turned to look at Akaashi’s face, hoping that the other omega knew how to deal with the situation, but Akaashi’s eyes were wide and locked on Kuroo. Bokuto now noticed the omega’s scent, and it made his heart sink; Akaashi was afraid, his distress getting higher as they both remained frozen on their spots.

Kuroo moved, and Bokuto squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that whatever was going to happen he could somehow protect Akaashi. But there was no more movement. He blinked his eyes open, saw his own hand holding Akaashi’s cock, and finally let it go. Very slowly he turned his head to see Kuroo.

The alpha had turned his back to them, was staring at the opposing wall, taking in deep, slow breaths before letting them out equally slowly. His hands were fists, and they were shaking, but somehow Bokuto could tell that it was no longer anger. The danger was over.

It dawned on him that his bond with Kuroo made him more attuned to the alpha’s moods, but it also presented the question: could Kuroo use it to his advantage?

Then Kuroo turned around, causing both Bokuto and Akaashi to jump.

“Sorry!” Kuroo said, a bit too loud to be completely in control. “I’m sorry!”

His fists weren’t as tight as they had been just a moment ago, and Bokuto felt like it might be appropriate to start relaxing.

“It appears that being bonded to Bokuto makes it hard to see him with someone else,” Kuroo said, voice strained, but his hands were now relaxed by his sides. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I should work on my impulse control. I’m sorry.”

It seemed that all of Kuroo’s strength had been flushed out with the anger, and the alpha pretty much collapsed onto his own bed, head in hands. Bokuto turned to look at Akaashi, whose scent had mostly calmed down and whose face was now less deer-in-headlights and more concern for his friend.

Bokuto sat up. Kuroo didn’t react, knees bouncing slightly. Akaashi touched Bokuto’s shoulder, and Bokuto turned to look. Akaashi smiled, encouraging, and Bokuto stood up, still carefully watching Kuroo, even though he could feel that the alpha was now upset and far away from being angry. Without a word Bokuto crossed the room and stopped before Kuroo. The alpha didn’t react, just shook his head in his hands in time to the jumps of his knees. Bokuto crouched down and peeked between Kuroo’s hands. The alpha turned his eyes at him, wet and sad. Bokuto smiled.

“I’m sorry,” Kuroo mumbled into the space between his arms. “I ruined everything.”

“No, you didn’t ruin anything,” Bokuto said. “You could hold yourself back. That’s a big feat.”

“But only barely,” Kuroo argued and sniffled. “How can you even try to defend me after that?”

Bokuto bit his lip but then flashed a smile again.

“You’re my alpha,” he said. “Of course I’ll defend you.”

Kuroo didn’t look impressed by that, his sulking intensifying.

“Let me tell you something,” Bokuto said. “I’ve never told anyone.”

Kuroo was now focused on him properly. Slowly Bokuto stood up and sat down next to the alpha, gently prying his hands away from his face, and eventually Kuroo yielded, turning his head towards him.

“Last year,” Bokuto said, holding onto both of Kuroo’s hands, “we went to a party. You met some friends and wandered off, remember?”

Kuroo nodded, eyes focused on Bokuto’s face.

“I left too, eventually,” Bokuto continued, squeezing Kuroo’s hands to reassure both the alpha and himself. “I left with some guys I didn’t know but they had booze and they were fun. So we ended up running into some omegas and the alphas were all over them, of course.”

There was a slight frown forming on Kuroo’s face as Bokuto talked.

“Suddenly there’s a really loud growl,” he continued, holding on to Kuroo’s hands like they were the only thing giving him enough strength to continue with the story, “and an alpha shows up. Turns out one of the omegas was his mate. Before anyone could react properly the alpha is beating up the guy who was flirting with his mate, everyone’s running off but someone pushed me and I was on the ground.”

Kuroo’s frown had deepened, and Bokuto could hear how Akaashi leaned forward to listen.

“The guy’s on the ground too,” Bokuto said and swallowed, “and he’s not moving, so the alpha turns to me, and there’s that growl again. He kicked me in the shin, and I just ripped off one of my patches, and he immediately froze because he could smell that I was omega and in distress.”

Akaashi gasped quietly, and Kuroo was now squeezing Bokuto’s hands so tight that his knuckles were turning white. Bokuto looked down to their hands before looking up to Kuroo’s face again.

“So, yeah. The alpha took his mate and left,” he continued. “And the guy who had been flirting was getting up and I was scared that he would smell my scent too and tell everyone, so I took off. And I’m still not sure how I made it back here without someone noticing my scent, I just remember being here and replacing the missing pheromone patch and then I called you but couldn’t say a word.”

“You should have told me,” Kuroo said quietly. “Shit, I never thought it was something like that.”

“I guess, my point here is,” Bokuto said and cleared his throat. “You controlled yourself, okay? But also I left a guy seriously hurt because my instinct told me to run. And. I guess what I mean is that it’s not easy to control your animal side, but you did.”

Kuroo was staring at him with intense eyes, and it was starting to feel uncomfortable. Then the alpha shook his head and sighed.

“For fuck’s sake, Bokuto,” Kuroo said with a laugh. “I can’t believe you just basically told me that I could have seriously hurt Akaashi and think that it’s going to pick up the mood.”

Bokuto’s face fell, he could feel it just as well as he felt his stomach drop. When he had decided to share the worst experience he had ever had with an alpha, he hadn’t really thought what it might say about the potential in Kuroo.

“Don’t look that way,” Kuroo said with a smile, but it didn’t help.

He was trying to remember the exact words he had used to describe the events, had he maybe insinuated that Kuroo’s behaviour just now had triggered this memory?

“Stop thinking,” Kuroo said, leaned in, and pressed his lips against Bokuto’s.

This time Bokuto listened to his omega side and opened his mouth for the kiss. Their bond was pulling him in so intensely he couldn’t see any other options. Kuroo held the back of his head with a hand and he found purchase in the alpha’s shirt as Kuroo’s tongue swiped around his mouth.

“Hmm, did you blow Akaashi?” Kuroo asked with a sly smirk.

Bokuto could only nod, his mouth still open and waiting to be kissed again.

“Koutarou,” Kuroo said, voice low and dripping honey.

Bokuto’s heart skipped a beat. He leaned closer, attentive to every single movement of Kuroo’s body, the shifts in the alpha’s scent, he felt how Kuroo was yanking on their bond and keeping him in place. He loved feeling it, he had never felt right in himself, and now he was suddenly much more complete and belonged. He belonged to the alpha before him, to Kuroo, and he was ready to expose all. He was preparing to be told to undress, maybe take Kuroo’s big cock in his mouth, give the alpha everything, because in return he would be given everything too.

“You should bond with Akaashi,” Kuroo said.

The spell broke, and Bokuto blinked. The bond wasn’t pulling him in anymore, and he remembered that Akaashi was in the room as well. He turned to look at his own bed where naked Akaashi sat and stared. The omega didn’t look scared anymore, and Bokuto was fairly certain that if he could smell Akaashi, there would be no signs of fear.

“I think it will calm me,” Kuroo said, and Bokuto looked at him again. “I think if Akaashi is bonded to you, my alpha side will understand that you’re not being taken away from me.”

“But wouldn’t that mean that you should be bonding with Akaashi?” Bokuto asked.

Kuroo’s cheeks gained some colour and the alpha glanced towards Akaashi.

“I don’t find it appropriate,” Kuroo said. “I already compromised with you, and I want to feel that I’m… that I’m more than the alpha in me.”

Kuroo was unhappy with how they had bonded, and wanted to fix it with Akaashi. Bokuto had known it already, he already knew that Kuroo didn’t want to bond with him in the first place, but he had thought that their scent bonding had fixed that. Kuroo had sworn that he did it because he wanted to, but maybe the alpha was merely trying to fix the already messy situation.

“Koutarou?” Kuroo asked, but he couldn’t face the alpha or he might cry again.

He didn’t matter because Kuroo had always wanted Akaashi, not him.

From the corner of his eye he could see Kuroo raise his arm, then a sting on his neck, and he lifted his own hand to his scent gland that was now uncovered.

“I really dislike that artificial smell,” Kuroo said thoughtfully and flicked the crumbled patch towards his side table. “But I also dislike how distressed you smell right now. What’s happening in that thick head of yours?”

He still didn’t want to look, so he was staring down to his knees, feeling exposed without his pheromone patches to hide his shameful emotions. He wasn’t supposed to be omega. He was supposed to be alpha, he wanted to be alpha. He should have never let his secret out, and everything would be just fine. He still had a hand over his scent gland, the other one turning into a fist as he tried to fight back tears.

“Bokuto?” Kuroo asked, reached out and brushed against Bokuto’s shoulder, but he pulled away.

“Please,” Kuroo said again, but didn’t try to touch. “What did I do now? What did I say wrong?”

Bokuto’s lip was quivering, even though his eyes were still relatively dry, but he didn’t trust his voice, so he said nothing. He wanted to shrink away, disappear, stop existing if it was this hard. He never asked to be born an omega, he never asked for anything but to play volleyball and keep getting better, and the world wouldn’t even give him that. He never wanted to get in the way of Kuroo and Akaashi’s relationship, yet here he was, and he was too naked without his shirt on.

He had slumped forward, and now let his body slide off the bed until he was sitting on the floor, in a similar position to last night, to the few times before when he couldn’t handle his emotions and the realities of his life.

“Bokuto, I don’t want to use our bond to force you,” Kuroo said, “but if you don’t start talking, I will.”

Maybe that’s what life would be like from now on. Kuroo could use their bond to reel him in but didn’t that mean that he could also use it to push him away, and Kuroo would keep pushing him until he was gone, and then they would be free to enjoy their lives without him.

He could see Akaashi get up and walk over, stand before him, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it, so he kept his head down low, eyes focused on the seam of the floor and his foot. Akaashi was still wearing socks, they were black, they were Akaashi’s black socks, the only thing the omega was wearing because he had crossed the line and touched Akaashi without Kuroo’s permission.

“Koutarou,” Akaashi said and crouched down to be on the same level with him. “Kuroo didn’t meant to say that bonding with you was a compromise.”

Kuroo made a sound of understanding, but Bokuto didn’t want to see either of them. He turned his head away from Akaashi to avoid accidentally making eye-contact.

“What he meant,” Akaashi continued, voice soft and understanding, “is that he couldn’t properly court you because it happened so suddenly.”

“Yeah, Bokuto,” Kuroo chimed in from the bed. “I just meant that I can’t believe I turned out to be the alpha who doesn’t even take his mate out before fucking them. If I had known beforehand, I would have totally taken you on at least one date before we bonded.”

“Me and Kuroo bonding doesn’t matter right now,” Akaashi continued. “What matters is that you understand that we both love you, and we want to be with you.”

Bokuto turned his head just a bit to be able to glance at Akaashi, who was watching him with a patient face. Kuroo got off the bed and crouched down before him too, so he now had nowhere to turn his head to avoid looking at either of them.

“I want you to bond with Akaashi so you won’t feel left out,” Kuroo said. “The fact that it might help me keep calm when I see the two of you together is just a bonus. I really want you and Akaashi to have a connection.”

This time Bokuto glanced at Kuroo, whose face was just as understanding as Akaashi’s.

“I already liked Akaashi for such a long time,” Kuroo continued, “that it’s easier for me to see him as a mate, you know? But you never thought of him as a potential mate, right?”

Slowly Bokuto nodded.

“I figured that if you two bond, it will seem more real,” Kuroo said. “Like with you and me.”

Bokuto thought about that. He wasn’t sure he understood Kuroo’s logic, but it seemed that Kuroo was telling him that since they bonded the alpha had become comfortable with the idea that they were mates for real. He raised his head just slightly to properly look at Kuroo, who smiled at him.

“That’s it, big boy,” Kuroo said. “You don’t have to worry about your emotions with us. You’re allowed to cry.”

Bokuto felt like he might shed a tear, but he didn’t. Kuroo pulled him into a quick hug.

“Now you go back to bed with Akaashi and continued what you were doing,” the alpha said with a big smile.

Kuroo stood up and went to sit on his bed again. Bokuto turned to look at Akaashi, who offered him a hand. He only hesitated for a moment before taking it, and the omega pulled him up to his feet.

"Let's get back to what we were doing," Akaashi said.

Bokuto nodded and let Akaashi guide him back to bed. He glanced back to Kuroo who was sitting cross-legged on his bed, back leaning against the wall and a smile on his face. He then turned to Akaashi and thought that maybe his emotions would stay in better control if he only focused on the omega for now. At the back of his mind he noticed embarrassment at the thought of Kuroo watching him and Akaashi get intimate, but he determinedly pushed it away.

"Do you still want to bond with me?" Akaashi asked.

Bokuto nodded. Akaashi placed a hand on his shoulder, fingers close to his scent gland, and he shivered thinking that Akaashi would rub their glands together again and it would feel good, it would feel so good and maybe then everything would feel just right. Akaashi smiled.

"You made me come so good," he said.

Bokuto's cheeks heated up quickly. Akaashi's fingers grazed his scent gland, and he could smell himself, how turned on he already was in spite of the interruption and his embarrassment. But how wouldn't he be, when Akaashi was sitting before him, naked body tight and lean. In some way Akaashi and Kuroo had similar bodies, and vaguely Bokuto wondered if he had a type. But what about Akaashi and Kuroo? Did they have a type too? If they had been attracted to each other for so long, that must mean that he wasn't either of their type. His body was bigger, shoulders broad and thighs thick, his chest covered with light hair, but his pubic hair dark and thick and extending all the way to his ass. Akaashi's chest was completely smooth, even his armpits didn't have thick hair. His pubic hair was sparse and neat, and it didn't continue to his ass. Akaashi's ass was hairless and smooth, he was sure, even though he hadn't actually seen it.

"What are you thinking about?" Akaashi asked, and Bokuto noticed the shift in his own scent.

"Nothing," he said, knowing full well that his worry was obvious.

"If you don't want to talk about it," Akaashi said gently, "will you kiss me?"

Bokuto nodded, leaned closer, and let Akaashi close the last bit of distance between them. Akaashi's kiss was sweet and soft. Bokuto thought about Kuroo, who had so little chest hair that there was practically none, whose pubic hair was bushy but neat and didn't cover his ass. How did he, an omega, have so much hair? Was nature telling him that he shouldn’t hope to find an alpha partner because no alpha would want such a hairy omega? Did Kuroo find it disgusting to have sex with him, look at his ass and push his cock past all the hair? He wasn’t as worried about Akaashi’s reaction, because as an omega Akaashi would naturally expect his partner to be rather hairy, but wasn’t his hairiness a bit too much?

Akaashi pulled away, and Bokuto opened his eyes to see the questioning look on the omega’s face.

“You’re distracted,” Akaashi said. “What’s going on?”

Bokuto shook his head, unwilling to talk about this newly emerged insecurity.

“If it’s this distracting, you should tell me,” Akaashi said and took a hold of Bokuto’s hand. “Let me help you.”

Bokuto shook his head again. He didn’t want to open his mouth in fear of his voice revealing how bothered he was suddenly.

“Please?” Akaashi said, voice soft and pleading.

Bokuto bit his lips together. Akaashi was looking at him from under his brows, which made the beautiful eyes turn cute, and it was a difficult look to resist. However, he was so ashamed of his body that he wanted to avoid bringing any extra attention to it, which talking about it would undoubtedly do.

“Koutarou,” Akaashi said, stretching the syllables.

“Can I whisper to you?” Bokuto asked quietly, glancing at Kuroo from the corner of his eye.

“Yes,” Akaashi said immediately, sat up straighter and leaned forward to welcome Bokuto’s confession.

Bokuto’s cheeks were burning and the burn was spreading to his ears now. He leaned forward, heart squeezing and stomach fluttering. He didn’t really want to say it, even in whisper, but he knew that Akaashi wouldn’t let it drop, and he knew that he couldn’t move past it without talking about it. So, he stopped by the other omega’s ear, swallowed, and whispered as quietly as he could.

“I’m too hairy.”

He backed away like the words had physically harmed him, watching how Akaashi slowly raised his head again and looked at him with a soft question on his beautiful face.

“You’re not,” Akaashi said, simple and plain.

Bokuto wanted to argue, but couldn’t do that without sharing the secret with Kuroo.

“I’ll show you,” Akaashi then said.

Bokuto opened his mouth to ask a question, then closed it, and decided to let Akaashi lead whatever was about to happen. Akaashi guided him to lie down, so he did. The other omega was hovering over him, then moved to straddle his hips and sat there like it was the most comfortable place.

“You’re gorgeous,” Akaashi said before leaning down and bringing their lips together.

The kiss was deeper than their other kisses had been, Akaashi’s tongue exploring his mouth with enthusiasm, and he found himself unable to focus on anything other than the tongue, how it was inside his mouth, tasting every corner of it. He vaguely noticed Akaashi’s hands on his shoulders, how they slid down to his chest, fingertips playing with his nipples gently as the tongue in his mouth continued its exploration. Akaashi then pulled his lips away with a wet sound, licked Bokuto’s lips once before moving to whisper in his ear.

“I like your chest hair,” Akaashi said. “It’s so manly.”

Bokuto’s face was on fire, and he was now paying attention to Akaashi’s fingers stroking over the hair on his chest, then moving lower on his body.

“I like your pubic hair too,” Akaashi whispered. “I like the erotic trail going down from your navel. It makes me want to lick over it and follow it down to your cock.”

The hands were now on Bokuto’s tummy, fingers stroking the trail of hair down to the waistband of his pants. Akaashi hummed next to his ear, and he shivered.

“I like how wild it is,” the omega whispered. “It’s just as wild as you.”

Akaashi lifted his head up and looked at Bokuto with a smile. Bokuto could only let out a strangled sound of arousal, the other omega’s fingers teasing the edge of his sweatpants. Then Akaashi leaned down again.

“Haven’t you always wanted to be alpha?” he whispered. “Why don’t you be the alpha you want to be and embrace your manly hair? I want you to fuck me like an alpha fucks an omega.”

Bokuto whined, the sound being complete opposite of what anyone would think an alpha to sound like, but Akaashi was now sliding down along his body, lips pressed against his skin, tongue flicking out of the omega’s mouth to taste him, and Akaashi didn’t stop before he had reached Bokuto’s navel and kissed down the trail of hair, pushing the waistband of his sweats down enough to end his kisses on the base of Bokuto’s cock. Akaashi’s hands were on his hips, tugging on the pants, and the omega looked up at him with a question, but he couldn’t say anything. He lifted his hips, and Akaashi understood, pulled off his pants and revealed his cock that wasn’t completely flaccid anymore but not particularly hard yet. He heard how his sweatpants fell onto the floor, but his focus was on Akaashi, who was now mouthing at his cock, hands on his thighs and lips teasing the bush of hair at his crotch.

“So, what do you say?” Akaashi asked, lips pressing a wet kiss on the shaft of Bokuto’s hardening cock. “Will you fuck me?”

Bokuto nodded, and Akaashi smiled. Akaashi smiled, and it was still something he was trying to get used to seeing, the omega’s smile always having been rare and stunning. Akaashi crawled up on the bed, pressed his smiling lips on his scent gland, and then turned, now sitting on Bokuto’s chest with his ass presented to him.

“Why don’t you get familiar with the territory first?” Akaashi asked, looking back to Bokuto with a wicked smile unlike any Bokuto had seen on his lips before.

Carefully Bokuto lifted his hands to take a hold of the round ass so unsettlingly close to his face. Akaashi’s ass was soft, it felt good, and he groped it a bit, watching how his fingers pressed into the skin. He could feel how hot Akaashi’s entrance was on his chest, and after Akaashi shifted his hips a bit, he could feel the wetness too. Akaashi was wet because of him. He dipped one finger between the ass cheeks and felt the sticky slick there, hot and awaiting. Then there was the scent. It was Akaashi, except stronger, more erotic, it smelled like sex and need, and he pulled Akaashi closer from the hips, causing the omega to giggle. He guided Akaashi’s ass over his face and smelled the slick, hands spreading the ass cheeks apart to reveal the omega’s quivering pink hole, oozing slick that was slowly sliding down his crack. Without much thought Bokuto pulled Akaashi closer and licked, tongue feeling the twitch of Akaashi’s entrance and tasting the slick. It didn’t taste bitter like Akaashi’s pre-come had. It had a surprisingly sweet taste, but he couldn’t describe it in any other way. It wasn’t particularly good, but it wasn’t off-putting either, and he licked again, this time pressing his tongue harder against Akaashi’s pucker. The omega moaned above him, pressed his ass closer, and Bokuto continued flicking his tongue over the soft entrance, more slick making its way out.

“Shit,” Akaashi whispered, rolling his hips softly against Bokuto’s mouth.

Bokuto did his best to guide the omega’s movements onto his tongue and mouth, unsure of how to continue. Due to his lack of interest in sex he had never learned what rimming entailed, had only heard some alphas describe it to taste and smell like heaven, which didn’t help one bit. He continued licking over Akaashi’s pucker, lapping up the slick that was now also sliding down his chin. Akaashi was moaning, voice breathy and high, and his thighs were starting to shake. Bokuto’s fingers were sinking into the soft flesh of his ass. Akaashi pushed harder towards his face, and the tip of his tongue slipped past the tight muscle of the omega’s entrance. Akaashi threw his upper body forward, leaning his hands on Bokuto’s thighs, ass pushing harder. Akaashi was tight around his tongue, and Bokuto imagined what it would feel like around his cock. He pushed his tongue farther in, as far as it would go, and Akaashi rolled his hips harder against his hold. He tried wiggling his tongue as much as he could, but Akaashi tightened around him, making it difficult.

He was so focused on trying to pleasure Akaashi while still being able to breathe freely, that he was startled when he felt a hand on his cock, shortly followed by wet lips. Akaashi’s breath was hot against his erection, tongue slippery, and Bokuto moaned. He was now getting seriously wet too, the first gushes of slick making their way out of his hole as Akaashi took his cock in his hot mouth and sucked. It was good, it was so good, and Bokuto was now finding it difficult to focus on what he was doing with Akaashi, who was giving him an extremely sloppy blowjob while he tried his best to figure out how to pleasure the other omega. His lips met the rim of Akaashi’s entrance and he sucked, causing Akaashi to flinch forward and take his cock in a bit too far. Akaashi backed off and coughed, and Bokuto pulled his tongue out of the omega.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Akaashi turned to look at him with his eyes glazed over and nodded.

“I got a bit too carried away,” Akaashi said and laughed, breathy and low, and it sent shivers down Bokuto’s spine. “I can’t take this anymore, Koutarou. I need more.”

Bokuto didn’t know what it meant, but Akaashi turned around to face him, then smiled before licking over his chin.

“I taste so good on you,” Akaashi said, and right when the meaning of those words clicked in Bokuto’s head, Akaashi brought their mouths together into a messy kiss.

Bokuto could hear Kuroo groan quietly, he heard shuffling, but his attention was soon brought back to Akaashi, whose tongue was exploring his mouth with eager licks. He tried meeting them with his own tongue, which seemed to please the other omega, so he continued doing it, enjoying the way their tongues slid against one another inside his mouth.

Akaashi pulled away too soon, and Bokuto wanted to pull him back, but the omega was already out of reach.

“You’re my big alpha,” Akaashi said, eyes glinting in an unusually wicked way. “I want you to fuck me like I’m your only one. I’m your omega.”

Bokuto shivered. Akaashi pulled him up, kissed him once more before getting on all fours on the bed, ass offered to him. For a moment Bokuto simply sat there and stared, trying to calm his erratic heart. Akaashi’s ass was round, perfect, his hole glistening with slick that was generously pushing out of the puckered hole.

“Fuck,” Bokuto whispered.

He watched how the slick slowly made its way down along the crack and over Akaashi’s perineum. Akaashi lowered his upper body to the bed and reached back to pull his ass cheeks apart to better expose his entrance. It was twitching, and Bokuto couldn’t hold back any longer.

Akaashi sighed when he felt the tip of Bokuto’s cock against his tight entrance. Bokuto had always thought that his cock was too small, but now that he saw it poking at the puckered hole into Akaashi, he realised how big it was compared to the canal where it was supposed to go. His heart jumped, and he was worried that he might hurt Akaashi, but the other omega didn’t seem too concerned, ass rolling back to try and make him push in.

“Please,” Akaashi breathed and turned his head as much as he could to look at Bokuto.

Bokuto swallowed, then started pushing his cock forward. His one hand was holding his cock in place, while the other was resting on Akaashi’s left buttock, soft but tight. The tip of his cock easily breached the first pucker, but it took more strength to get farther. Akaashi was pleading quietly for him to not stop, so he continued pushing, slowly but surely, until he was all the way inside, hips flush against Akaashi’s round ass. He bent down over the omega’s body, chest against back, nose against Akaashi’s scent gland. Akaashi was turned on, Akaashi was enjoying it, and Bokuto felt like he was doing something right, he was finally able to be an alpha in more ways than in scent.

Maybe he should have controlled himself and started slower, but he couldn’t stop his hips from slamming into Akaashi’s greedy hole. Akaashi moaned, his entire body moving with the force of Bokuto’s thrusts. It was wet and tight, and Akaashi met Bokuto’s movements with his own, skin slapping against skin as Bokuto let his pleasure guide him. Akaashi smelled stronger now, Akaashi was calling for him, begging to be knotted, and Bokuto closed his eyes and grit his teeth to keep up the pace, brutal snaps of his hips against Akaashi’s willing ass. Akaashi’s body was writhing under him, his arms wrapped around the lean frame of the omega, and he had never imagined that he could feel like this, so powerful over an omega.

Akaashi’s hole twitched hard, and without warning Bokuto came with a surprised yelp, cock throbbing as his semen was spurting inside the omega’s greedy hole. His legs were shaking, hips still rolling to milk out everything he had to give. Somewhere at the back of his mind there was the bitter realisation that he wasn’t really alpha and couldn’t give Akaashi the knot the omega yearned for, but his own pleasure took the forefront, cock still inside the tight hole that continued pulsing around him, slick making wet noises as his hips finally came to a halt.

Then he heard how Akaashi was panting, whining quietly, and he opened his eyes, realising that the omega hadn’t come yet. He straightened himself in horror.

“I’m sorry!” he said immediately, voice a bit too loud and still out of breath. “I’m sorry, Akaashi!”

“No,” Akaashi breathed. “Please, just a bit more, give me a hand Koutarou.”

Bokuto blinked, then reached down to Akaashi’s cock. It was wet with pre-come, hot and throbbing, and he stroked it, carefully first, but then with more strength, making his fist tighter until Akaashi moaned loudly, legs shaking. It didn’t take much longer before Akaashi was coming too, back arching and ass pushing against Bokuto’s hips, and the way his hole tightened around Bokuto’s cock made Bokuto shudder with want.

However, after Akaashi had ridden down his orgasm, Bokuto slowly pulled out, watched how Akaashi’s hole twitched and released a mix of slick and come. Akaashi dropped down onto the bed and turned on his side to look at Bokuto with a pleased smile.

“Was it good?” Akaashi asked. “Did you enjoy it?”

Bokuto nodded. Did Akaashi really need to ask? Had it not been obvious? Maybe he had been so preoccupied with himself that he hadn’t paid any attention to showing his pleasure to his partner. Clearly, he hadn’t known how to make Akaashi feel good too.

“You’re thinking too much,” Kuroo said.

Bokuto was startled to realise that the alpha was climbing into bed right behind him. He hadn’t noticed Kuroo move at all, but suddenly he felt their bond tugging him. It told him that his alpha was horny and needed him, which in turn made him forget all signs of tiredness, and more slick started to form, slowly sliding out of him with each twitch of his hole.

Kuroo pulled him backwards, against the alpha’s warm chest. Kuroo’s hands were on his body, on his chest and stomach, and the alpha pressed a wet kiss on his scent gland.

“That was too hot,” Kuroo said quietly, his low voice tickling Bokuto’s neck. “You’re so hot, Bokuto.”

One of Kuroo’s hands took a hold of Bokuto’s growing erection and gave it a tug. Bokuto moaned and leaned backwards, leaned against his alpha who was holding him, whose hard cock was pressed against his ass as a reminder of what was to come.

“I want you so bad,” Kuroo said and kissed over Bokuto’s shoulder, stopped on his scent gland and sucked hard.

Bokuto’s body was twitching this way and that under Kuroo’s attention. He felt safe with the alpha’s arms around him, and he let his head fall back onto Kuroo’s shoulder. The alpha smiled at him.

“I want you, Bokuto,” Kuroo said.

Bokuto couldn’t say anything, as Kuroo’s mouth latched over his own. The alpha didn’t wait to push his tongue past Bokuto’s lips, hand moving faster on Bokuto’s cock. Kuroo’s tongue was quick, it was wet, and it was completely dominating Bokuto’s mouth. It felt like Kuroo was fucking his mouth with his tongue, and that thought added to the stimulation on his cock made Bokuto come, hips rolling into Kuroo’s hand and moans being muffled by the alpha’s mouth. Kuroo didn’t stop stroking him, he used the come as lubricant to speed up his hand, and Bokuto was squirming with overstimulation. He reached back to take a hold of Kuroo, anywhere, fingers pressing into muscle, and his moans turned into screams that Kuroo swallowed. His legs were shaking with exertion, body leaning heavily against the alpha, his alpha, his forever, and he was climbing high again, back arching. He could hear the wet sounds of their kiss, the wet sounds of Kuroo’s hand jerking him off, Kuroo smelled like sex, he smelled like release, and right when Bokuto thought he would have a world-shattering orgasm, Kuroo let go of his cock, but continued to kiss his loud whines of protest away.

“Fuck, that’s sexy,” Bokuto heard from below him, and remembered Akaashi.

Kuroo backed away from the kiss, and Bokuto looked down to the omega who was lounging on the pillows and looking at the couple before him. Bokuto’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, now that he realised what Akaashi had just witnessed, but the idea also made his cock jump. Akaashi had a soft smile on his face as he watched how Kuroo’s hands continued roaming over Bokuto’s body, down to his hips and back to his ass.

“We should scent while Kuroo knots you,” Akaashi said casually as if he was talking about the weather. “I think that might trick your body into thinking it’s me, and maybe our bond will be permanent.”

“Uh huh,” Bokuto managed.

Then he moaned. Kuroo had spread his ass cheeks apart and the tip of his big cock was now sliding along the crack and through the slick that was slowly sliding down his thighs. He hadn’t realised he was so wet, so much in need, but now he wanted the alpha to hurry. He tried to lean forward to offer himself for taking, but Kuroo quickly wrapped a strong arm around his chest to keep him still.

“Don’t you go anywhere,” Kuroo said, low and dangerous, and their bond was pulling on Bokuto again, pulling him so hard that he could only lean back against his alpha.

Kuroo guided his cock against his entrance, the big tip pressing hard against the tight muscle, and after slipping once, it finally pushed inside. Bokuto let out a broken moan, heard Akaashi gasp, and Kuroo grunted right next to his ear. He came, untouched, just from being penetrated. He was moaning loudly now, and Kuroo lifted his hand to cover his mouth. The alpha wasn’t fully inside yet, still slowly pushing in, and Bokuto’s eyes were tearing up with how good he felt, how fulfilled and loved. He was resting his head on Kuroo’s shoulder as the alpha kept pushing inside, cock opening his tight hole wide, the stretch more intense in this position than it had been on their first time. Kuroo’s hand was over his mouth and he was glad for it, because there was no doubt that his voice would have otherwise been loud enough to alert the entire dormitory to what was happening.

When Kuroo withdrew his hand from Bokuto’s mouth, Bokuto panicked, but soon there were fingers prodding at his tongue, and he sucked them inside, licking over them and covering them with saliva, sucking every time he was about to moan too loudly. Kuroo was fucking his mouth with his long fingers while his cock was still entering him, and Bokuto felt like he was being the perfect omega, everything an alpha could ever ask for. He vaguely registered wet sounds coming from somewhere before him where Akaashi was lying on the bed, but couldn’t turn to look. His front was completely open for the other omega to see, and while it embarrassed him, it also tickled him in just the right way to make his cock ache a bit more.

Kuroo’s cock felt so big in this position that Bokuto was certain it wouldn’t fit all the way in, but he soon found his ass to be flush against Kuroo’s hips, the alpha’s massive length sheathed inside him. He moaned around the fingers in his mouth, and Kuroo added two more for him to suck, taking up most of the room in his mouth.

“How far in do you think it reaches?” he heard Akaashi ask way too nonchalantly.

“How far do you recogn?” Kuroo asked in return.

There was shuffling, and a warm hand pressed against Bokuto’s tummy, massaging it gently.

“It must be around here,” Akaashi said, stopping his hand somewhere below Bokuto’s navel. “I wish I could feel it.”

“Maybe you can see it instead,” Kuroo said.

Bokuto had no idea what the two were talking about, making him feel like he wasn’t as connected as Kuroo and Akaashi were, but before his mood could start plummeting, Kuroo pulled his hips back and thrust them forward, hard.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” Akaashi said, voice full of awe, and Bokuto wished that he could see the omega’s face. “Do it again. I can so imagine seeing it move.”

Kuroo did what Akaashi asked, pulling out and then thrusting hard, his free arm wrapped over Bokuto’s waist to keep him up. Bokuto’s lips tightened around the fingers in his mouth, teeth grazing them as he lost focus with how brutally Kuroo was fucking into him, hips snapping and hitting his ass with a loud slap. Akaashi’s hand was back on Bokuto’s tummy, and his cock bounced against it with each thrust of Kuroo’s hips. He wanted to feel more, he wanted Akaashi to take his cock in his mouth and suck him dry, but the omega simply kept feeling his stomach, both hands roaming around it.

There was a small shift in Kuroo’s angle, and Bokuto moaned around the fingers in his mouth, cock throbbing. Kuroo hummed, low and erotic right next to his ear, and continued fucking him, each thrust now pushing the big cock against Bokuto’s prostate. Akaashi’s hands were on his hips, on his thighs, Kuroo was holding him so close they might as well have been one person, and with a loud cry he came yet again, a small amount of semen spurting out of his cock, sliding down his length.

Kuroo didn’t stop moving, his cock still hitting Bokuto’s prostate each time it forced its way inside, and Bokuto’s cock remained hard and throbbing. Tears were streaming down his face and his legs were shaking, the only thing holding him up being Kuroo’s arm. He started to realise that Akaashi’s hands were gone, but due to Kuroo’s fingers still being shoved in his mouth, he couldn’t turn to look. The alpha was grunting with each thrust, the sound alone so sexy that Bokuto was sure he could come just by listening to it. His body was on fire with overstimulation, and he was getting close to yet another orgasm.

Before he got there, however, Kuroo pulled his fingers out of his mouth and softened the thrusts of his hips. Slowly the alpha lowered him down, cock buried so deep inside him that he could feel it throb. He opened his eyes properly when he felt Akaashi’s hands on his cheeks. The omega smiled and kissed the tears off his face.

“Just a bit more, Koutarou,” Akaashi said. “We’ll make you feel so good.”

Bokuto wanted to point out that he was already feeling better than he had ever felt before, but couldn’t quite make the connection between his thoughts and his mouth, so instead he nodded tiredly and let Kuroo guide his hips down. He only realised what was going on when the alpha started guiding his aching cock between Akaashi’s ass cheeks, the wet entrance greeting his cock with a twitch. He moaned, and Akaashi pulled his face down to a kiss. He felt like he had lost most control of his body, and trying to return Akaashi’s kiss proved difficult. The other omega didn’t seem to mind, however, simply continued kissing him, tongue playing with his mouth and lips sucking on his tongue.

Akaashi felt tighter now, but it must have been due to how sensitive Bokuto’s cock was. He was almost certain that he orgasmed before he was even half-way in, but having no come left in him made it hard to tell. All he knew was that his muscles were tight, pleasure was surging through him, and he couldn’t hold his upper body up, so he collapsed on top of Akaashi, who simply laughed and kissed him more, hands squishing his cheeks.

Feeling Akaashi so wet and hot around his cock after being denied touch for such a long time was overwhelming, and his hips tried jerking, but his body was running out of steam. Akaashi wrapped his arms around his body to keep him close, and he wanted to apologise, to let the other’s know that he didn’t have it in him to fuck someone, but then Kuroo started moving again.

Bokuto’s eyes opened wide when he felt his cock push deeper inside of Akaashi’s tight hole while Kuroo’s big cock filled him again. Kuroo was doing all the work, yet he was being stimulated from both sides, Akaashi’s entrance a tight ring around his sensitive cock. He was sobbing with pleasure now, tears rolling down his cheeks again, and he couldn’t keep his eyes open.

“You feel so good,” Akaashi said right into his ear, the low voice sending shivers down his spine, and he thought that he experienced yet another orgasm, but couldn’t be quite sure.

“You should do it soon,” Kuroo said from behind him.

Bokuto wondered what it was, but his thoughts were continuously scattered by the pleasure of being filled while having his cock sucked in by Akaashi’s greedy ass. Akaashi’s hands were warm over his sweaty back, Kuroo’s hands were squeezing his hips.

“How soon?” Akaashi asked.

Bokuto’s head was hanging over Akaashi’s neck, nose very close to the other omega’s scent gland, and he mouthed at the skin, the scent of the omega telling him to get closer and take. Akaashi moaned.

“It’s starting to form so do it now,” Kuroo said.

Bokuto still couldn’t make sense of the conversation, could hardly distinguish each word, and he was amazed by how clearly both Kuroo and Akaashi could communicate. He couldn’t even hold himself up, Kuroo being his only sourse of support or he would have simply lain on top of Akaashi like a ragdoll. Kuroo was filling him up so good, cock hitting so deep inside him it seemed impossible, how he could have Kuroo so deep inside him after having dismissed it as an option years ago. And while he was being Kuroo’s omega, he was also being Akaashi’s alpha, his throbbing cock starting to feel raw as it moved in the wet heat of Akaashi’s ass. He wished that he could be a real alpha and knot the omega, he wanted to make Akaashi his so bad.

And then Akaashi moved his head just enough to bring their scent glands together, and Bokuto’s mind shut down with pleasure. He felt fingers in his mouth again, so he must have been too loud. His scent gland was open, pouring out his scent generously, and he could feel it mix with Akaashi’s scent, he could feel how they were being pulled together, how the omega was calling for him, yearning for him, and he rubbed back, he wanted it too, he never wanted them to be separate again, and simultaneously he felt how Kuroo’s knot was quickly forming inside him, spreading him open wider, wider, he was open everywhere, and that’s how he could take in his partners, his true mates who were two, his alpha and his omega. Kuroo’s knot caught on his rim, it couldn’t slip out any longer. Then fingers in his mouth were pressed against his useless tongue, and he felt how tight Akaashi was around him, so tight, and Akaashi’s come was between their bodies, Akaashi’s moans in his ear and their scents surrounding him. He came with a loud cry, cock throbbing and spurting out nothing, ass tight around Kuroo’s big knot, and he could feel how Kuroo started releasing inside him, and everything went dark.

*

“Ah, he got looser,” someone said.

It felt like he was floating, but then he found himself in bed.

“Are you okay?” someone else asked.

There was a hand in his hair and a hand on his face and a hand on his waist. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Akaashi, who was stroking his cheek.

“Are you feeling fine?” Akaashi asked.

He tried to nod, but his head was still heavy.

“Yeah,” he managed to breathe out instead.

“Good,” Akaashi said. “I’ve never seen anyone come so hard they pass out. We were worried.”

Bokuto started realising Kuroo’s presence behind him, chest against his back and knot still firmly inside him. Kuroo pressed a quiet kiss in his hair.

“You were amazing,” Kuroo said against his hair.

“Perfect,” Akaashi agreed. “You’re so sexy, Koutarou.”

Bokuto’s face heated up with all the praise.

“Can you feel a new bond?” Kuroo asked.

Bokuto’s head was still spinning lightly, still trying to understand everything fully, but he did notice that something was different.

“I think it worked,” Akaashi said with a big smile. “I think we managed to bond permanently.”

“Oh,” was all Bokuto could offer.

He thought about it, felt around, then caught a hold of something new that was tugging him towards the omega before him. With a bit more searching he found the bond that was pulling him towards Kuroo.

“That’s weird,” he said, words slightly slurred.

“I know,” Akaashi said. “I never knew it felt like this.”

“Are you happy, Koutarou?” Kuroo asked.

Hearing Kuroo use his first name made him gasp. He had to stop and think for a moment, try to stop his emotions from blurring his thoughts.

“Yes,” he said, and his voice was broken, but at least he wasn’t tearing up. “I’m happy.”

“I’m happy too,” Akaashi said.

“I’ll join you in being happy the moment I get out of you,” Kuroo muttered and shifted.

Bokuto didn’t understand what Kuroo meant, except that it had something to do with the knot. Was Kuroo unhappy being knotted to him?

“It appears that your ass remained very tight while you were passed out,” Akaashi said with a hint of laughter, eyes shining. “Kuroo has been coming non-stop until now.”

It explained the odd feeling of fullness Bokuto had noticed but hadn’t been able to form into a meaningful thought.

“It’s not my fault if you have to spend the rest of the day sitting on a toilet,” Kuroo said, but his voice was void of real bite. “But I guess I’ll sit there with you.”

This time Akaashi laughed for real. He then pressed his face to the crook of Bokuto’s neck.

“You smell so good,” the omega said. “So homely.”

“Do I want to smell homely?” Bokuto questioned himself.

Akaashi cooed.

“I mean that you smell like this is where I belong,” the omega said.

Bokuto looked at how Akaashi’s face was glowing. The omega truly looked like he had found something he had been searching for.

“Koutarou,” Akaashi said. “You’ll have to go see a doctor about your suppressants. I’ll go with you so it will seem like it’s for me.”

“But…” Bokuto tried to argue, but was interrupted by Akaashi.

“No, I mean it,” the omega said. “I don’t mind lying to a doctor if it’s the only way to make you go.”

“But he’ll have to run some tests,” Bokuto said, worry taking over him.

“If he needs to, we’ll have to come clean,” Akaashi said. “But we’ll worry about that when it happens.”

“It might be a nurse doing the testing,” Kuroo chimed in. “The nurse won’t know your real name or who you are.”

Bokuto wasn’t convinced, but knowing that Akaashi was willing to go so far just to get him to go get checked up made him feel that he would have to return the favour and go.

“Fine,” he said quietly.

“Thank you,” Akaashi said sincerely and pulled Bokuto into a hug.

“Don’t I get a hug?” Kuroo asked, a pout apparent in his voice.

Akaashi laughed, but lifted his hand from Bokuto’s back, and Kuroo pressed forward, lifting his own arm to pull Akaashi closer too. It felt good to be pressed between the two bodies, and Bokuto smiled.

Somehow things had turned out fine, and he had no doubt in his mind that from here on out life would be just a bit easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally I managed to get all three of these fools together and they got the fluffy ending that the first chapter was supposed to have! But as you can see, this chapter was also trying its hardest to get distracted from the endgame.
> 
> Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and the support! This fic was a lot of fun, and all the nice words from you made it even more fun!
> 
> P.S. I really badly want to write more about this universe so. I mean. It's not like I have a huge list of things to write. Two more fics won't hurt, right???????!?!?!?!!?!!!?!?!?!

**Author's Note:**

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> 
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